Till Death Do Us Part
by EleniDalby
Summary: Someone thinks Liz is someone she isn't and takes her away to a land far, far away. Hellboy's kinda miffed about that
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Home Sweet Home

_Domestic life. Who da thought?_ Liz Sherman smiled to herself as she walked – waddled – down the corridor of her brand new home. The carpets were of a rich forest green, tiny weavings of silver throwing up sparkles of the light that poured into the house from tall, leaded windows, the small squares of glass proudly displaying the wintery Irish countryside that seemed to stretch on forever. Liz's smile took on a smug edge as she folded her arms over the very definite bump of pregnancy, tucking her tiny hands into the wide sleeves of her…what did they call sweaters here? Jumper? Whatever it was called, the house was warm and cozy whilst the wind howled and the snow poured down in a merry winter dance. The smell of Christmas – a _real_ B.P.R.D-less Christmas – filled the corridor and she inhaled deeply, relishing the scent of pine, cloves, cinnamon and cheap paper as she turned into the vast living room. Abes tank stood against one wall, finally _not_ leaking all over the floor, the reflections in the water casting a surprisingly soft light into the room. The large, dumpy sofa's were set in front of a crackling open fire, bookcases and memorabilia lining every wall that wasn't taken up by the tank. It wasn't unlike the way Professor Broom's study had been back at the B.P.R.D…just…enlarged. Liz paused in the doorway, one hand on the stout wooden frame, the other on her stout belly, and surveyed the scene inside.

"No it needs to go a little more to the left." Johann Krauss perched almost awkwardly on the edge of one of the sofas, looking up at a huge Christmas tree. After many requests on Liz's part the German scientist had finally abandoned his research at The Sealy University of Mythology and agreed to join them for Christmas.

"No, no, to the right." Abe Sapien, arms folded over the top of the tank, lithe blue legs kicking lazily in the water, called out, shooting Liz something that could be described as a smile if only the amphibian was capable of such an expression.

"C'mon guys, make up your mi- Liz!" Hellboy, on the very top step of a ladder and swaying dangerously, beamed down at her as if she were all his Christmas presents in one. The smile didn't last long, though the loving look in his eyes did, it was replaced with irritation. "Babe, what do you think? Left or right?" He jingled the over-large silver bell from side to side with his stone hand, the other one holding onto the wall for support.

"Actually I think it's ok just where it is." Liz smiled, looking down as she tried to see over her bump to where the steps were at. She made her way over to the sofa as a mini-argument erupted between the three boys, picked up a very contented cat from the seat and sat down with a groan.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Hellboy yelped over the noise. "What the lady says, goes." He turned away, delicately placing the bell on a tree limb, ignoring Krauss' sigh and Abe flipping lazily back into the water, sinking to sit cross legged at the bottom of the tank. Liz smiled to herself as she watched.

Ever since they'd moved in a few months ago Hellboy had been increasingly protective, the phrase that was unsaid hung in the air almost perpetually now – 'don't upset the pregnant lady or you'll upset _me_'. Liz, herself, had handled the mood swings and cravings, though it had been amusing once or twice (when she regained control of herself) to find that HB had traveled half way round the world just to bring her back some gram crackers with the _exact_ cheese she had asked for. If she wasn't careful Liz was fairly certain that her heart would burst with love for the big ape.

"Liz?" The big ape in question had slid down the length of the ladder and sauntered over to her, all but shoving Krauss across the sofa in order to sit next to her, an arm thrown gently around her shoulders. "Why the frown? You alright?" Liz couldn't help fighting away a smile at his concern, placing his hand of flesh on her belly so he could feel the babies kicking in an almost negligent manner.

"I'm fine, HB. They're not coming for another month or so." She said quietly, closing her eyes as she leaned into him as much as the bump would allow. "It's been a long day." She felt Hellboy grin against the top of her head.

"Mmm, seeing your man dragging the worlds largest Christmas tree through that door must have been hard work." He sat back slightly, flexing a bicep. "All those rippling muscles." He looked down at her, smugness lurking in the back of his eyes.

"Yeah, sure, I might have been more impressed had you and your rippling muscles-" She poked the arm being flexed in front of her face, "-had cleaned up all the pine needles and resin you left all over the hall." His face fell and she laughed, leaning up slightly to kiss him.

"I'll get right on it." He promised.

"It's taken care of. _Johann_ knows how to tidy up after himself." Liz shot a warm smile at the ectoplasmic German…just to irritate Hellboy. Krauss pretended not to notice the glare that was leveled at him, looking away casually as steam escaped from the flaps around what Hellboy still insisted on calling his 'fish bowl'. "Actually I'm kind of tired."

"Really?" Hope shone in the place of irritation on Hellboys face and Liz felt that same bursting amount of love again. Maybe it was hormones? Still, it didn't seem to matter how much like a hippo with a gland problem Liz looked, Hellboy always perked up at the words 'bed', 'tired' or 'sleepy'. It wasn't just a physical thing – though it _was_ fabulous – but Hellboy, despite the fierceness of his appearance and gruffness of his attitude, was a cuddler. Liz had been threatened with worse than death if she'd ever let anyone know it but sometimes they'd just lie together, Hellboy curling gently around her and Liz had never felt so protected in her whole damn life. Scary.

"Yeah."'

"Good." In one smooth, powerful motion Liz was lifted from the seat, cradled in Hellboys arms as he stood up, nodding his goodnights to the other two.

"I _can_ walk, y'know." Liz murmured even as she cuddled up to him, yawning as they left the room. Hellboy smiled down at his lover, watching dark eyes slowly drift shut and mid length black perfumed hair spill gently over his arm and shoulder.

"Yeah. I know."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Living Nightmare

Hellboy snorted into the pillow as he woke up from a nightmare that was rapidly fading. He frowned in concentration, irritation quick on the heels of fear, trying to remember what it was. Nothing…just the vague recollection of cold, black waters and someone screaming his name. His _actual_ name. Seeking the comfort that Liz's warm body could give he rolled over, the soft sheets sliding down his side as he reached out only to have his hand fall through thin air into the space she had previously occupied.

"Liz?" He called out hoarsely before cracking his eyes open and glancing at the bathroom. Since she had started to get really big with the twins, sometimes she had to get up in the night to pee, often complaining that her bladder had shrunk to the size of a marble to make room for the babies. But the light in the marble lined room wasn't on. Trying to quell the rising urge to panic, Hellboy swung his legs over the edge of the bed, leaning forward to rescue his a t-shirt from under a purring tabby cat. He paused only a moment to tickle the furry, purring chin proffered to him before padding out of the room barefoot, tail twitching in agitation behind him. Walking past the library he glanced inside, the only light from the moon, shattering against Abe's tank and showing there were no other occupants in the room. Hellboy walked on, swinging himself down the stairs to the kitchen. Nope. No lights.

"Be in the lab. Please be in the Lab." He prayed to Liz, his own personal fire goddess, as he walked the length of the sterile clean kitchen, pushing open the concealed door to reveal the lab. Krauss was still up, leaning over the table to create a delicate something that involved tweezers and a microscope.

"Hellboy?" Krauss enquired as he straightened out. "Can I-"

"Have you seen Liz?" Hellboy interrupted as urgency curled in the pit of his stomach, making his fingers tighten against the door.

"No, I thought she was with you-" The scientist winced slightly at the sound of screeching metal as Hellboys stone hand tightened against the reinforced door before he was gone. Krauss carefully laid down what he was working on before taking off after his comrade. He took the stairs two at a time as the sound of splashing water reached his ears, turning into the library to find Hellboy hauling Abe out of the tank, unmindful of the water that drenched the both of them.

"I'm awake! Stop shouting!" Abe's voice was raised as close to a yell as Krauss had ever heard it, obviously still half asleep and stumbling a little as his feet his dry flooring. "Hellboy, please, your thoughts are-"

"She's gone." Hellboy growled, dragging Abe from the room. "She's not in the house and I didn't hear any of the cars take off." The trio quickly made their way up to the room.

"It's freezing in here." Krauss murmured as the lights were flickered on overhead. Everything _looked_ normal. Cats were strewn across every available surface, regardless of what that surface was, in deference of Liz's yelling the clothes that usually littered the floor had been put away, comics and video tapes stacked away almost neatly. The window was open a tiny crack, letting in the frigid night air and the bed sheets were in the same disarray that Hellboy had left them in.

"She's gone." Abe muttered, his hand already out in the air above the bed.

"No? Really?" Hellboy growled, his impatience practically tangible as he paced the room, neglecting the cats that looked to him for attention. Un-noticed by the other two, Krauss walked across the room and closed the window, noticing that there were no foot prints in the snow beyond an the snow on the windowsill wasn't disturbed.

"She's been taken…but I can't see by what. She…" Abe trailed off, closing his hand into a fist and drawing it into his chest and looking down as if heavily grieved.

"What? Abe-"

"There wasn't, isn't, any sign of a struggle. She. She went with him willingly." Hellboy paused mid-step, his whole being freezing before he turned slowly to look at his friend.

"_Him_?"

* * *

"Say it again." Krauss said firmly. Sat opposite him, Hellboy took a deep breath, trying to control the urge to start yelling or run out of the door…both options were starting to look incredibly tempting. His hands curled around a large mug of incredibly strong coffee – a mix of coffee granules and hot water that was only _just_ this side of fluid – and tried to control the feeling of helplessness and the subsequent rage that followed. He _hated_ being unable to do something.

"Why? We've been over the story hundreds of times already." He growled under his voice.

"Ja, but we didn't have coffee during those hundred times." The scientist shot back, metal boots clinking against the tiled floor as he shifted in his seat.

"Was that a joke, fish bowl? I'm nearly impressed." Hellboy said flatly into his mug as he took a sip. Abe sighed inwardly, folding his hands on the cool damp table top, as he prepared to go through it all again.

"I saw a shadow, leaning over Liz, pouring something from an old earthenware jug into her mouth. Liz woke up, looked up at the shadow and followed it as it drew away from her. They both melted into darkness. That's all I saw." He said, giving the short version for a change. "There's no scent, no real emotion to pick up on…nothing." He glanced up at Krauss as Hellboy took another sip. He _wanted_ to say it was as if Death himself had come for her in the night and taken her body as well as her soul…but somehow he didn't think it would help the situation or the understandable black mood that seemed to hang over the trio.

"I think we should comb the room. Search for any _physical_ clues." Hellboy looked up, his smile taking on an edge that was almost manic.

"Good idea, fish bowl." He was out of the room in two strides and at the room he shared with his lover in eight, Abe and Krauss forced to jog in order to keep up. "Ok." Hellboy headed for the bed, methodically stripping the sheets off as well as the pillow cases before over turning the mattress and getting on his hands and knees to check over the floor. Whilst he was occupied, Abe moved over to the shadowy corner where Liz and her mysterious kidnapper had disappeared whilst Krauss hung half way out the window.

"Hm." Abe made a pleased noise in the back of his throat and stood up, his fist closed against his chest as he turned round in time to see Hellboy hit his head on the underside of the bed frame. "I've found something."

"What? _What_?" Hellboy almost snapped as he straightened out, his eyes already fixed on Abes fist. The amphibian opened his hand slowly, the broken remains of part of a jug nestled amongst the thin webs of his hands.

"Ah. It appears to be some kind of amphora…there's a marking." Krauss reached out, gently turning the flattest shard to catch the light and Abe reached out, touching just the very edge of the piece.

"Hm. Early Greek, I'd say, handled by thousands and broken by…hmm…" Abe's voice slowly got quieter as he stared off into the middle distance, staring at things that the other two couldn't see. Just _barely_ resisting the urge to grab his friend and shake him, Hellboy reached out and took the shard for himself, staring down at the Greek symbol 'omega'.

"The end?"

"Or Death." Krauss nodded slightly, letting off steam in a literal sense.

"Next time keep that kind of crap to yourself." Hellboy said flatly, his fist closing over the shard before he looked up again, questioningly, at his amphibian friend.

"I'm afraid all I could pick up was Ireland." Abe said apologetically, tilting his head slightly to the chorus of bubbles from the breathing collar he wore out of sheer habit.

"Well that's useful, we're _in_ Ireland." Hellboy growled, flinging the shard away from him impatiently only to have Krauss catch it with lightening reflexes. "Damn it. _DAMN_." He kicked the heavy oak bed, sending the piece of furniture that had taken eight removal men to get in flying.

"No, you don't understand. _Ireland_…took Liz."

"…wanna run that by me again?" Hellboy said after a moment of incredulous staring and awkward silence, only broken by the disturbingly organic sounds from Johann's bio-suit. Abe sighed shortly.

"It's as if the land itself rose up and took her I-I can't explain it any better than that."

"But you said a dark figure-"

"Yes."

"And the land-"

"_Yes_, Red." Abe shook his head, turning his back to look out of the window, hands folded behind him.

"O'Conner." Krauss said suddenly, some small satisfaction tempering his voice.

"What?" Hellboy frowned, sitting on the edge of the bed and leaning forward, elbows on his knees.

"There is a Warlock, near Wicklow I believe, by the name of O'Connor. I'm told on very good authority that he is the best of the best. We should consult him." Krauss tossed and caught the shard of pottery smartly, bouncing a little on his heels. "I shall ring the informant and get an address." Before either of the other two could say a word, the scientist had turned on his heel and left the room.

"Sometimes I wonder why we keep him around." Hellboy snorted, shaking his head. The ebony picture frame that always stood on his side of the bedside table caught his eye.

"Because Liz likes him." Abe returned with as much of smile in his voice as he could manage. He watched as Red picked up the picture frame. The picture was of an awkward young woman, who very obviously didn't want to be photographed, her wiry smile directed with just a little sarcasm at the much larger man who was forever frozen in the act of stooping down to kiss the top of her dark head. Abe moved forward, knowing that a little comfort would be appreciated, and laid his hand on his friends shoulder. "We'll get her back, Red." Hellboy put the picture of him and Liz down with a heavy sigh before he stood up.

"We'd better."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Making Friends is Fun...right?

Rain. Lots of rain. And mud too in fact. As far as the eye could see. Hellboy sighed inwardly, realizing his internal monologue was starting to take on a distinctly 'Agent Manning' tone. To be fair, the rolling green hills with their spattering of dark-cloud like sheep were exquisitely beautiful…even with the backdrop of gray sky and dry-stone walls. He turned back to Abe and Krauss, watching as the German turned over a rapidly deteriorating map frantically.

"I…He said it would be here. These are the _exact_ co-ordinates to the village!" The map turned again. Abe looked over his shoulder before looking up at Hellboy with a small shake of his head.

"There's nothing here." Hellboy growled. "No houses, no village, nothing but stone walls and fields." He turned about in a circle, "great. What are we supposed to do _now_?"

"Hm. We could ask her." Abe pointed with a graceful gesture.

"Who?"

"_Her_." He moved from behind Krauss and turned Hellboy in the general direction of the woman beside one of the dry-stone walls. She was tall, her red hair covered by a soaking wet silk scarf and dressed simply in a grey coat – from underneath which a pair of stonewashed jeans could be seen, and black Wellington boots. She seemed to be unaware of their approach, picking off chunks of wood from a pile that was stacked, misshape, against the wall and throwing them into a large plastic box at her feet, only turning to them when Hellboy cleared his throat pointedly.

"Oh." She looked at them coolly and HB couldn't help but notice the barely concealed anger that seemed to be bubbling just beneath the surface. She showed no fear or surprise at the confrontation, merely sizing the three of them up, one after the other. "You'll be after my Father, I take it?" She asked dryly. "I _told_ him I'll not be having any more demons around the place! They make a mess! They break things and they _never_ put the cup in the sink when they're finished with it." She exploded at them, her thick Irish accent seeming to get even thicker as she ranted, waving a log of wood under their noses. Krauss took a step back, embarrassed slightly when he was the only one to do so. "So if you're here because of him you can just-"

"Lady." Hellboy raised his stone hand, cutting her off. "We just want-"

"So it's yourself then, is it?" She said suddenly subdued, her eyes fixed on his hand. "Well then. I guess you'd better come inside and see what's to be seen." The flame haired woman straightened out, wiping her hands clean on her coat before leaning down again to pick up the plastic box. As she did so Abe and HB exchanged a look, the demon shrugging even as his friend nodded slightly.

"Let me." Krauss darted forward, leaning down to pick up the box before the woman had a chance, hefting it easily. She looked at him, amusement working its way into her expression, almost against her will, as she looked at him.

"If you're that willing to work, sir, I'm sure I can find more for you." She teased slightly before nodding over her shoulder, apparently at the mismatched stone wall. "In you come then."

"Into a wall?" Hellboy snorted.

"What? Are you blind, Anung?" The Irishwoman asked with a small smile, her forest green eyes managing to radiate anger as much as amusement. "Look at it a different way." She gestured to the wall again and Hellboy sighed, hearing Abe make an exclamation of surprise beside him.

"I don't get it- wait." He frowned, squinting slightly and tilting his head to one side. As he watched the scene changed, the walls melting into something else, like the picture that was an old man in one way and a pretty maid in another. A sharp stone became the corner of a roof, a little rock becoming a door handle. As he glanced around a whole village sprang out at him, small houses built right up against the high walls, made out of the same stone - even the windows were disguised - standing right in front of him and stretching out for miles. "Oooh." Hellboy deadpanned.

"Glad you approve." She pushed open a door that hadn't been there previously, opening the way into an impossibly large room. An open fire burned happily under a heavy mantel, comfortable - if not worn - chairs sitting beside it. An old man dressed in a tweed waistcoat and worn green trousers tucked into Wellington boots stood behind a heavy oak table that was groaning under the weight of a freshly dead deer, the once beautiful creature half covered with bundles of dried herbs. "Da. They're here." The woman called out as she took the box of wood from Krauss. The old man didn't even look up, merely pushing his glasses up his nose with a bloodied finger.

"I know. I heard." He replied. "Just a minute...and I'd appreciate if you held off doing that for a minute, sir." He pointed the bloody finger at Abe who snatched his open palm from the air with an embarrassed look.

"What _is_ all this?" Hellboy asked, keeping his voice low out of respect for whatever the hell was happening.

"Hmm? Oh...it looks like some sort of ritual." Krauss murmured, letting off steam in the most literal sense. "Probably a cleansing or-"

"It's a welcoming of the Autumn. Old but...my Father practices older magic than most remember." The woman said, kneeling to throw chunks of wood onto the fire, warming her hands against the sudden blaze for a second before she rose and took off her coat and hung it beside the fire, revealing the sensible forest green woolen sweater she wore underneath.

"It's good to have an expert in such old ways, Miss...?" Krauss enquired, inclining his head slightly.

"O'Connor, of course." She stood up, offering a hand to him as if thrusting a knife. "But you can call me Megan."

"It's good to have an expert…" Hellboy murmured under his breath in mocking, turning a full circle to take in the room.

"Miss Megan." Krauss' tone indicated that he'd heard. "I am Johann Krauss, these are my associates Abe Sapien and -"

"Anung Un Rama or would 'Hellboy' be politer given the circumstances?" The old man looked up as he spoke, wiping his hands clean on a rag. "'Bout time you got here. _He's_ taken off with your young lass then, is it?" He asked. Hellboys hand strayed, unconsciously, to the gun tucked into his belt.

"Look at that. Dripping all over the floor." Megan tutted and sighed, holding out her hand and nearly sagging under the weight as Hellboy handed her the wet leather jacket. Recovering quickly she hung that beside the fire to dry too.

"How did you know that?" He asked gruffly, uncomfortable at the stare that was leveled at him...for a moment Hellboy could have sworn his Fathers eyes flashed at him from the unfamiliar face.

"As my girl said, I dabble in this an' that." A smile creased the old mans face as he offered his hand. "Jimmy O'Connor, at your service. Metaphorically of course. Meg! Where's your manners? Offer the men a drink!"

"If they're thirsty they can get their own damn drinks. I've a supper to cook." Megan snapped back, going over to the cupboard anyway, pulling out glasses and a bottle of whiskey before slamming them down on the table bad temperedly. "I suppose you'll be wanting fed too?" She asked the trio.

"Uh-"

"Pay no mind. She's only cruel to those she really likes." Jimmy grinned in the face of his daughters glare. "Come, sit by the fire boys, an' tell me what it is you need." He threw himself into one of the seats, kicking off his boots and seeming as unperturbed as his daughter had been at the fact he was surrounded by such unusual company. Hellboy took him up on the offer, taking the glass of whiskey that was handed to him, Krauss sat a little further away, already cradling a cool glass in his gloved 'hands', Abe stood behind the chairs, in the cooler shadows and away from the fire, surprised and touched when Megan handed him a glass of luke warm water.

"She's gone. We know, we _think_ we know, who took her but we don't know where we can find it…him…them…" Hellboy trailed off, confusion evident in his voice, abnormally quiet. He sat forward, elbows on his knees, the leather of his coat creaking over his shoulders as muscles strained. "If you could give me, us, any clue, _any_ clue. I'd give-"

"There's nothing I want from you, Mr Hellboy, and _you_ think that Ireland took her. That the land somehow rose up and snatched her from you." The old man said, the light of humor leaving his eyes for the first time. He rubbed his chin with a sand papery sound. "You don't know your Da, you're _real_ Da, to put a good word in for me down below so-"

"Da!"

"Oh hush Meg, I was only playing." He said. Hellboy had been watching the old mans expression, if there had been any joke, it hadn't shown in Jimmy's eyes. Hellboy frowned in confusion, a sense of knowing something without remembering what it was lurking in the back of his mind. "Anyhow, my darlin' Ireland's got nothing to do with this, no." The old mans eyes went distant as some soft secret expression stole over his face before it fled, just as quickly as it arrived. His expression became almost frightening in the firelight. "It was _Him_. Someone I can't face nor defeat. He's taken her down to the dark with him. Over the Winding Waters." He looked at the blank, red face before him before glancing up at Abe.

"Oh." The merman said quietly, looking anywhere but at Hellboy.

"What?" The demon asked impatiently.

"He means the river Styx." Krauss translated.

"What?"

"Styx, y'know from Greek Mythology? The river that separated the Underworld from the 'real' world." Megan spoke as she competently butchered the deer, looking up in the sudden silence. "What? Can't a girl read?" The four men looked away at the same time, O'Connor rolling his eyes heavenward, his expression apologetic.

"Styx." Hellboy repeated in monotone.

"Right. Styx. The Winding Waters. The Black Bayou. The Liquid Death. The Shadow-"

"I get the point. Big swirling death river of doom. Gotcha. So." Hellboy took a swig big enough to empty the entire glass, appreciating the warming burn as it went down and crunching the ice afterwards. "Got any idea of how to get there and who is this 'Him' and how do I kill him?"

"Uh. Not as such no and He's a tricky devil – no offence meant." Jimmy avoided the combined gazes he was receiving. "See, the Sight was lost to me years ago-"

"There's ways, Da." Megan said quietly as she threw venison steak into a pan on a stove. "Why don't you show them the book?" She suggested.

"Megan-"

"Da! This man's lost his Lady to That One you show him the book or god damn it I'll tell Ma what you've done, then I'll round my brothers up and we'll -"

"You're a cruel one, Megan O'Connor, y'should be ashamed of yourself." The two glowered at each other for a long moment, unmindful of their awkward guests. Jimmy sighed, "alright." And leaned down, reaching underneath the seat to drag out a wooden box, blowing dust of the obviously ancient lid. "Wedding gift. From the wife." Behind him Megan rolled her eyes – looking remarkably like her father for a moment considering she was a woman – before turning to the stove. Hellboys attention returned to the old man as he opened the box, revealing a lush velvet lining and a beautiful leather bound book, the gold workings shining in the fire light. "Hm. Now then. Styx was it?" He murmured, more to himself.

"Uh, sir?" Abe cut in, "Do you really think that's wise, I'm sensing-"

"Aye, lad, I know just what you're sensing." James smiled, working the heavy clasps of the book. "Don't worry, she won't harm any of us."

"Probably." Megan added. Jimmy sighed heavily but held the book out, flat on his palms.

"Mr Hellboy? If you please?" He invited. Hellboy looked blank for a moment before he reached out. "No no, just…ask. Nice an polite now."

"Uh. Right." Hellboy looked out at the little leathery thing, lost but not for the first time. "Can you tell me where the river Styx is?"

"Please." Abe prompted in a whisper.

"Please." Hellboy said hurriedly. "Please can you tell me where the river Styx is?" The book lay motionless in Jimmy's hands despite the attention it was being given. A minute or two ticked by and still nothing.

"Maybe she's sulking after the last time you used her." Megan suggested from the stove, the smell of cooking onions and meat drifting over.

"Hush Megan."

"Alright. Maybe this'll work." Hellboy drew the Samaritan, feeling stupid for aiming at a book but it just fueled the anger that had been ignited by worry.

"No don't-" Jimmy was cut off as a streak of white light snapped from the center of the books engravings, snapping the gun right out of Hellboys hand. He barked in pain, drawing his hand back.

"Y'great daftie!" Megan snapped as she stalked over, snatching the book from her fathers hands. "Honestly! It's a wonder you get any response from this poor thing the way you're treating her." She glared between her Father and Hellboy, her temper unquenched by the glares she was given in return. She turned away, cuddling the book to her chest almost maternally. "So which one of you _gentlemen_ will lend a hand?" She asked, looking between Abe and Krauss.

"I will." Krauss stepped forward.

"Of _course_, y'will" Megan said, smiling at him sweetly before shooting her father a poisonous look. "Hold out your hands, would you?" She asked Krauss, placing the book in his hands when he did so. All of her attention fixed on the book and she whispered to it as she gently stroked the cover, broken words of Irish and English falling from her lips as well as the odd word in Elvish, the latter made Hellboys hair nearly stand on end. Almost sulkily the book opened on the dead center, black ink spreading out across the pages in great swirling arcs, bleeding out into greater images, all delicate, all writhing as if they were alive, intertwined with runes and symbols that were unreadable. "Here. Take this, be nice." She lifted the book out of Krauss' hands, squeezing his shoulder in thanks, before handing it to Hellboy.

"Abe?" Hellboy called over his shoulder, looking down at the squiggles and fascinated as a tiny ship sailed over impossibly real seas.

"Excuse me." The amphibian said quietly to the book before laying a hand on the page, leaning over the back of Hellboys chair. "Ah!" He rocked back on his heels as if struck but his hand

remained where it was. "It appears that our destination lies not in Greece, where we'd expect the Styx to be but…no, surely not?"

"Abe, we're only getting one side of the conversation here." Hellboy said dryly, lighting a cigar before offering one to Jimmy O'Conner who was watching with interest.

"My apologies. According to the Book, the Styx, or rather, the entrance that _leads_ to the Styx…is in the Sahara desert." Abe said in a wondering tone. "She says she can show us the way in, if…oh dear."

"If? If what?" Jimmy leaned forward, blowing out a trail of blue smoke as he did so, obviously caught up in the moment.

"If the Book can come with us." Abe finished, just a little meekly, taking his hand from the book and straightening up.

"What?" Jimmy yelped at pretty much the same time as Hellboy.

"What? This thing? No way." The Demon growled, glaring down at the book in his hands that snapped itself shut. Even though there were no eyes imprinted on the books surface Hellboy had the distinct feeling that he was being glared at.

"What do you mean _this thing_?" Megan snapped, taking the book once more and holding it against her chest as if protecting a child.

"I don't see why she can't come with us, she's very polite to _me-_" Abe joining in was the last really distinguishable sentence before everyone began arguing with everyone else all at once. It was a simple little sound that caught everyone's attention, the sound of cooking. Krauss stood at the stove, having found a pair of tongs, and was flipping the venison steaks over in the pan, moving the onions and humming under what could be called his breath. He seemed to become aware of their attention slowly, glancing up.

"They were starting to burn." He said defensively, coughing slightly as he let off steam.

"Burn? My venison doesn't _burn_" Megan snapped. "I suppose you're all hungry?" She called over her shoulder as she looked towards the stove, her voice comparatively calm.

"I don't eat. My apologies." Krauss murmured in reply, watching her as she pushed the book into Abes waiting hands.

"No, thank you." Abe said apologetically, distractedly as he stared down at the leather bound tome.

"I'm hungry."

"Good." Megan threw the steaks onto two plates, one piled high, the other with just two. The smaller one was handed to her Father, the other to Hellboy before she sat on the floor, in front of the fire, watching Abe handle the book with a pensive expression. "I'm going too." She said.

"Megan-" Jimmy murmured, his voice almost tender.

"No, Da, listen. The Book won't respond to them and we'll be wanting her back after they're done." She said quietly, reaching up to squeeze his hand.

"Aye, and what about me?" Jimmy asked in quivering tones, his eyes wide and suddenly looking very, very old indeed.

"Don't gimmie that, you old fool." Megan said affectionately, "I'll call my brothers to keep an eye on you and I'll tell Ma, so she can pop by once in a while."

"Oh so you're definitely coming then." Hellboy said sarcastically round a mouthful.

"Well if you insist so much I guess I'd better." Megan smiled at him, her voice smooth. Hellboy swallowed before drawing breath to launch into a speech about how there was no way in hell that she was going only to have Abe's gentle, tactful, cough interrupt him.

"Actually, I think it might be quite wise to take Miss O'Connor with us. The Book says she won't talk to us without her."

"She?" Krauss piped up, standing with his back to the open fire now and bouncing a little on his heels.

"The Book's a female. Sort of. It's difficult to describe."

"So that's settled then." Meg clapped her hands together. "I'll go and see Ma, then we'll be off."


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: - warning for crappy poetry ahoy.

Chapter Four

Friends

"You didn't have to come, you know." Meg turned slightly, grabbing hold of Johann's arm as he slipped in the mud for the hundredth time. Even though sixty per cent of his head was made of glass, smoke and gears, Johann somehow managed to look embarrassed.

"Yes, we know but…" He trailed off, struggling to find the right words before landing glass first in the mud.

"Wanted to make sure you didn't run off and leave us high and dry." Hellboy grouched under his voice. "Y'know, I still don't get it." He said, hauling Krauss upright by the belt as he strode past. "Abe said Ireland took Liz and your pop said the Styx did-"

"No the _book_ said we need to find the Styx in order to find Liz." Meg replied, patting Johann's shoulder before carrying on walking, catching up with Hellboy and pointing the way as she spoke. "So Liz is the name of your lady?" Hellboy grunted, too busy looking at the circle of trees that they were walking towards. Alone in the center of a field, regal ash trees with wide spread leafy skirts stood in a circle, inside that circle a smaller circle of white limbed trees with golden leaves stood, leaning over a small pool of water.

"Elizabeth Sherman." Abe supplied, seeming to perk up at the sight of the water.

"The fire woman? The one that's been _all_ over the news?" Meg asked almost absently as they reached the little grove. "She looks like she could handle herself-"

"She's been taken." Hellboy snapped. Meg glanced at Abe and Krauss, both of whom shrugged apologetically.

"I see." She said softly before turning away, laying a hand on one of the trunks of the trees and rattling off a string of words, a language, that none of them could decipher.

"What are you-"

"Just calling my ma." Meg smiled, the tiniest hint of nerves about her expression.

"Uh, she's not exactly human, your mom?" Hellboy asked, turning a slow circle and pulling the Samaritan from his belt, letting it hang heavy and solid by his side.

"Put that away would you?" Meg hissed.

"Abe, what are we dealing with here?" Hellboy looked up as the leaves around them rustled, apparently of their own accord as there was no breeze to stir them, a sense of unease drifting up the back of his neck. He stared at a small scrap of the glade where the tree limbs and leaves were completely still and slowly, so slowly he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him for a moment. A woman appeared from the foliage, impossible to see thanks to the softness of her gray/green skin, her dark hair moved of it's own accord around her head, as if it was underwater. She grinned broadly at him before jumping and disappearing into the trees once again. Hellboy raised the gun, ready to take aim at a moments notice, aiming high amongst the branches and totally unprepared when the woman appeared - upside down - before him and yanked the gun from his hand.

"Horrible thing, this." She spoke in a fluting tone, turning the gun over in her hands like a squirrel would turn a nut. She reached up, grabbing hold of the branch and righted herself, sitting with her legs dangling towards them. "Torturing friendly metal just to make something to kill other folk with." She tossed the gun back and Hellboy caught it with skill. "It's amazing your species survived at all."

"Torture?" Krauss couldn't help asking. They all watched as she stood and walked along the branch.

"Mmm. You dig the metal out of its nice warm earth bed, hit it with things, burn it, melt it, mold it into what you want...you wouldn't call that torture?" Her expression had changed from playful to serious in a heartbeat.

"Abe?" Red snapped.

"A dryad. A type of wood sprite." Abe specified for them. "Usually friendly, though like most fey a little, um, temperamental." The woman smiled at him, stepping lightly across the branches until she was almost directly above them, with an acrobatic twist of her feet, the Dryad slipped, hanging upside down from the branch and grinning into Abes face a la Spiderman, her ankles hooked impossibly over the branch she now hung from.

"You're wrong. We're not a Dryad. Dryad's are oak-children. We are Meliai, our mother is an Ash tree. Hello, Brother." She greeted him in friendly tones, reaching out to touch the smooth dome of his head lightly with her mossy fingertips. Abe stared, unblinking, into eyes that constantly changed earthy hues

"You know what I am?" He asked, the echo of a desperation that none of them had heard before in the back of his voice.

"Not exactly. We think we share the same Father though. Our name is Ash-Manna." She grinned again, walking across the limb of the tree - upside down - before walking down the trunk and standing upright on the loamy soil. "Megan!" As if seeing her daughter for the first time the Dryad smiled, reaching out to touch her forehead with the same gesture she had bestowed on Abe. "You've bought us such lovely treats this time." Ash swept her eyes over the little group.

"I'm sorry, ma, you can't keep this lot. They're-"

"On a journey. We know. You _must_ take care, Meg, on this journey of yours…and tell your Father I'll keep watch over him." Ash sighed heavily, shaking her head sadly and dislodging a few autumnal leaves from her hair. "Your visitor told us all about it. She has a message for you all." The dryad turned to one side, gesturing to the dark waters of the pool that was surrounded by tall white trees, their branches stretching upwards and entwining like protective fingers cupping a goblet. Meg nodded, starting forward only to have her Mothers hand rest on her shoulder. "Be careful. Don't speak out of turn." The creatures expression remained serious for all of five seconds before a playful smile curled her lips as her gaze slid from her daughter to Hellboy. "We doubt _you'll_ have to be careful, my lad. We wish we were younger, we could have bounced you round the bedroom a few times." She looked him over, much to her daughters embarrassment and Hellboys amusement, before nodding over her shoulder, letting Meg go as she did so. "Go on, before she leaves."

"Oh. It'll be _her_ then?" Meg's voice hit a leaden tone and she glanced over her shoulder before walking forward, leading the others into the protected area. Hellboy glanced around, eyes narrowed, as a sudden icy breeze stirred their clothes and bit at their noses. "You still got that gun of yours, Mr Hellboy?" Without a word Hellboy cocked the gun, the click of it's mechanism suddenly loud in the silent, still clearing. Abe inched forward, craning his neck to look into the depths of the pitch black pool, his instincts screaming at him for a reason he couldn't quite fathom. "Um, I'd come away from there if I were-" The water exploded upwards as something half alive surged upwards, teeth like a sharks but sharper still lining it's cavernous mouth whilst clawed hands flew through the air. The shot exploded from Hellboys gun even before he was really aware of what was happening. The thing flew back, hitting the surface of the water as if it was as solid surface, and stayed there as Abe staggered back, slipping slightly on the wet ground.

"You alright?" Hellboy asked without looking away from the thing or lowering the gun. Abe nodded silently, his hand going to his throat as he imagined what would have happened if not for the gun. A dull hiss filled the small clearing, echoing back on itself as it grew louder, raspy breath adding to the chorus followed by a low, mad cackling.

"Jenny?" Meg called out, keeping well back from the waters edge and grabbing hold of the back of Hellboys coat when he walked forward. She tried to pull him back, only to be dragged forward a few steps by his strength until he realized what she was trying to do and looked at her questioningly. "She's the visitor that Ma was on about."

"Hm." Hellboy grunted, taking a reluctant step back. The creature rose slowly, standing on the waters surface. It raised its monstrous head revealing a wide mouth surrounded by rubbery lips, it's large blank eyes covered in a milky film and slimy scales covered its entire, sea-weed drenched, body. It revealed the rows of shining white teeth as it grinned at them menacingly. Hellboy lit a cigar.

"Jenny. We were told you had a message?" Meg called out.

"Mmm. For Him." The creatures voice was a low, whispery rasp in the back of its throat, it pointed a webbed, clawed finger at Hellboy who blew smoke rings unconcernedly. "About _her_." Obvious distaste tempered the things voice and Hellboy froze, the muscles in his back tensing without him being aware of it.

"Please, Jenny." Meg coaxed gently.

"_When fire-lady and shadow-man mate_

_When red skinned demon meets His fate_

_There must be a new born sacrifice_

_With innocent blood spilt on lake of ice_

_There's no chance for demon-man_

_He'll scream in pain whilst shadow-man_

_Will grow in number, grow in pride_

_Prosper forever, though fire-lady died_

_He'll stay there forever remain exuding power_

_Whilst fire-lady is doomed in His dark tower"_

"He's gonna kill Liz and the kids." Hellboy whispered, sickly horror, dark and unfair crept up the back of his neck.

"New born sacrifice." Johann murmured worriedly. In a flurry of activity Hellboy unhooked the rope from his waist and flung it, lasso style at the thing on the water. It was a perfect shot and within seconds he was wrestling the screaming, flailing thing on shore. He stomped down on the creature hard, briefly thankful for the thickness of his boots and leather pants when it tried to bite and scratch at him. Using his stone fist he punched the thing, getting out some of the fear and rage that was bottling up inside of him. To everyone's surprise the creature just rolled with it, screeching with horrible laughter.

"Who's got her, Jenny?" Hellboy growled, lifting the thing clean off the floor, drawing back his arm for a fatal blow. "_Who's got her_?" He wasn't prepared for a sharp clawed foot in the face and lost his grip. The creature sank its teeth deep into his fleshy arm before it danced back.

"I won't come back for you again, half-thing, half-life." The creature called Jenny pointed a bony claw at Megan who had turned white before it turned it's attention to Hellboy once again, flashing its blood stained teeth in a grin. "You've got to go, down down down to see The Rich One, The Unseen One, The Silent One." The creature half sung, half laughed, dancing madly, rag-like seaweed flying around a revoltingly thin body, bones seemingly ready to break through the tissue thin layer of skin and scales. "Chthonian Zeus, Clymenus, Eubuleus, Polydegmon, Clymenus One, Dis, Dis Pater, Orcus, Chthonian Rich Zeus, Orcus Unseen, Silent Polydegmon…" The thing cackled, dancing away from them and into the pool until only echoes of the twisting curling song remained and they finally faded out into the whisper of the wind.

"So. That was a long list of people to see." Krauss said, his voice just the tiniest bit weak for the first time but somehow over loud in the quiet.

"It's not a list. It's just one." Hellboy cut across, talking a little thickly thanks to the cigar in his mouth. He tilted his head slightly as he lit it, a resigned look in his yellow eyes as he straightened out again, staring off into the middle distance and seemingly unaware that he was the center of the small groups attention.

"Oh I should have _known_. Why else would we have to cross the Styx?" Abe closed his eyes and shook his head slightly.

"So it's true then? We've got to go see Hades." Megan said in strangled tone. A humourless smile curled up the corners of Hellboys mouth as smoke curled around his face, throwing up odd shadows.

"Yay."


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry for the delay folks.

Chapter Five

Airplane

"So all that's left to decide," Hellboy was saying, reclining once more in the comfortable chairs beside the fire at the O'Connor's camouflaged cottage. "Is how to get to the Sahara desert. Considering that's where the Twyg is, right?"

"Styx. Not Twyg."

"Flying would be quickest." Jimmy said, gimlet eyes following everyone's movement carefully, noting the way Hellboy was trying his best to appear relaxed and at ease whilst obviously very close to loosing his temper. Abe was as far away from the fire as possible, sitting cross legged on the wooden table with the Book spread open on his knees, symbols and patterns swirling on the open page that his hand was spread over. Krauss was standing stiffly with his elbow resting on the mantelpiece beside Meg who was trying not to keep glancing at the book.

"Mmm. I don't do civilian flights." Hellboy let his head drop back against the seat, staring up at the ceiling as his tail curled and uncurled, the only outward sign of his anxiousness. He _knew_ where Liz was and vaguely how to get there, now they had to waste time on actually _getting_ there.

"Could all passengers please fasten their seatbelts, except for the large red money who's so jammed in anyway he probably wouldn't need it." Abe murmured, more to himself than anyone else.

"Damn it." Hellboy slammed a fist into the arm of the chair – something wooden crunching within before Meg appeared by his side.

"Here. Drink." She pushed a cold glass bottle of beer into his hand before placing one on the table beside Abe – looking at the swirls of the book as she did so – handing one to her father and placing one on the mantle beside Krauss. "I know you don't drink." She said as he turned to look at her, flopping back down into her seat. "But you could have a good look." Krauss laughed softly, glancing over at Hellboy who was glaring down at the small brown bottle as if it was all the bottles fault.

"I-"

"We could go part of the way by ship, then the rest of the way by truck?" Abe suggested, inadvertently interrupting Krauss.

"No wooden crates." Hellboy growled, thinking back to their trip to Russia.

"I-"

"Da, couldn't you-" Krauss suppressed a sigh as Meg wiggled her fingers, obviously indicating magic. Jimmy gave his daughter a very old look.

"You know it doesn't work that way-"

"You could send us on the ley lines."

"Not that far." He snapped, his good humour breaking for the first times. "I could probably get you to France if I wanted to kill myself doing it." They were silent for a while, the noise of the fire crackling happily to itself filing up the space and the sound of Hellboy drinking.

"I-"

"What if-"

"I own a plane!" Krauss snapped, finally getting tired of being interrupted. All faces turned to him. "I own a plane." He repeated in a slightly modulated tone. "It was my Fathers, I've never flown it but I'm under the impression that it's still sky worthy."

"Alright, fish bowl." Hellboy grinned as he pushed himself out of his chair, "why didn't you say in the first place?" As much as it was possible Krauss just stared at him blankly.

"So all we need to do is figure out a way of getting to Germany." Meg shrugged, as if it was the easiest thing on the planet.

"Mm." Abe looked up from the book. "Precisely _how_ averse are you to traveling in a crate, Red?"

~*~

"Umm. Are you _sure_ this thing is sky worthy?" Meg asked as she looked at the plane. It was a _lot_ bigger than she had been expecting but a lot smaller compared to modern passenger aircraft. The ME110 stood alone in the dim hanger space, its sandy colored wings stretching out either side, embossed with two dark crosses on the top. A glass and metal framed dome covered the cockpit whilst two huge engines with massive propellers hung pendulous from the wings.

"I have it on very good authority that it is." Krauss said as they walked towards it, just the tiniest bit defensively.

"There's only space for three." Hellboy pointed out, stretching upwards and silently sending a prayer of thanks to whoever was listening that he was finally out of that damn box before taking the rucksack that Meg was absently handing to him. They each had one, packed with – apparently – one of everything ever made each. Including games.

"Four at a push but we won't need the extra." Johann said smugly, "would someone hold my suit? I don't want it flying off."

"What?" Meg asked in startled tones. Hellboy snorted a laugh whilst Abe volunteered to take it. Krauss sighed as he opened the valve on the suit, allowing his ectoplasmic body to seep out.

"This should be fairly easy." He murmured to himself as he floated through the group to get to the plane, a white mist blown about by the breeze. Meg yelped and jumped back, startled, as he would through their ankles before seeping into the plane.

"He's a ghost." Meg whispered, making signs – including that of the cross – in the air in front of her.

"No. An ectoplasmic entity." Abe corrected calmly as he moved past, pulling himself up into one of the little planes seats as he did so. Hellboy took the seat at the front, not bothering to strap on a helmet and throwing aside the goggles with a noise of disgust.

"One of these days you're going to explain the difference to me." She grouched in return.

"I don't know what's so complicated. A ghost is a lost spirit-"

"Or something that needs its preternatural ass kicking." Hellboy said, chewing off the end of a cigar as he settled in.

"And an ectoplasmic entity is, well, Krauss. He has the ability to move objects dead or alive, mechanical or organic according to his will."

"Like a poltergeist then?"

"No." Abe sighed in frustration.

"Hang on. So basically, Krauss kind of _is_ the plane?" Meg looked around as the console in front of Hellboy started moving, apparently of its own accord.

"All I ask is that you please refrain from breaking wind." Krauss' voice said dryly from nowhere before the noise of the thing forbade any communication that wasn't through the coms system. The sound of the great engines starting rattled everyone's teeth, Hellboy gritted his as the plane turned towards the hanger doors with lumbering grace. "This should be interesting." Krauss said as the plane lined up along the runway.

"You mean you've never done this before?" Meg asked shrilly, fingernails practically gouging into the metal as she held on for grim life as the plane rose steadily into the air, it's engines letting off a deep, almost animalistic roar.

"There. Nothing to worry about." Krauss' voice called smugly over the com system. The journey passed in silence for a while, whilst all of them tried their best to relax and ignore the constant hum through the metal beneath their feet that threatened to send all limbs to painful sleep.

"So this Hades guy." Hellboy said at last. "What are we thinking?"

"It's probably not Hades as in, Hades the immortal God of the Underworld." Abe said, pausing as he took a sip of water from a flask, passing it forward.

"More likely a trumped up Mage or something." Meg leaned back, taking the flask and passing it forward as she rummaged around in her own backpack, passing food forward and back – she'd thoughtfully left out the meat from Abes food.

"Mage." Hellboy said flatly.

"A sort of wizard or Warlock…" Meg shrugged, waving one hand as she tried to explain, narrowing her eyes as she tried to think of the right words.

"With more power than common sense." Abe finished for her. Meg laughed softly, shaking her head as she rummaged through her rucksack again. Hellboy's stone hand grated audibly, even over the noise of the engine, as he flexed his fist.

"So what does this wacko want with Liz? And what if it really _is_ Hades the immortal God of the underworld?" His frown deepened as he stared out moodily at the sky that was slowly but surely turning to dusky purple hues as the sun went down. "Immortal kind of implies I can't kill him…torture him slowly for half a century, maybe, but not kill him."

"There's always a loophole, Red." Hellboy sighed at the tone in Abe's voice, he was going into lecture mode. "Strangely enough it's usually in the form of an elixir or potion. Though, of course, there have been records of fruit seeds-"

"Fruit seeds?" Hellboy snorted, turning round in his seat and craning his neck to look over the top of Megs head. "Are you saying I've got to pelt the bad guy with strawberries?" Abe stared at Hellboy flatly for a moment.

"I don't think strawberries were ever mentioned."

"Well, what are we supposed to use then?" Hellboy snapped sitting down. "Kiwi's? I know! Watermelons-"

"Um, guys-"

"Sarcasm isn't going to help-"

"What the hell is? Liz is in trouble and you're sitting there telling me how to make a good fruit punch-"

"I was _not,_ I _was_ trying to-"

"_GUYS._" Meg called out, interrupting the not-exactly argument.

"What?" Hellboy snapped, looking down to see the Irishwoman staring out at the wing of the plane so he followed her gaze. "Oh crap…Abe?" The merman stared through his water goggles, mouth open at the creature that flew along side them. It had the head and upper torso of a woman, hair streaming and eyes slitted against the wind. Her 'arms' were great golden wings, the long feathers fluttering lightly in the wind whilst her lower torso and 'legs' were comprised of a birds abdomen, tipped off with long, curving claws about a good foot and a half long.

"Harpy." Abe managed at last.

"Is this a good thing or-" Hellboy was cut off, grunting as the creature latched it's claws into the planes wings, the long hooks sinking through the metal as if it was butter. "A really, really crap thing." Without waiting for Abe to explain any further, Hellboy shoved open the window – a huge gust of wind creating a vacuum that threatened to pull all of them out into the sky. Meg yelped and clutched her backpack all the harder, screwing her eyes shut childishly.

"Red!" Abe cried out. "It won't do any good to shoot them! They're –" Even though he was shouting about the noise, his voice was drowned out by the sound of the Samaritan firing. The Harpy screeched, a hawk-like noise of indignation, as the power of the bullet knocked her away from the wing, gouging huge chunks out of the metal, forcing her to flap awkwardly to regain her balance. Dark, nearly violet, blood stained the pure gold of her feathers – where shoulder met wing – and dripped down her chest. Regaining her balance she turned her hate filled face towards them and shrieked one piercing word -

"DIE!" – as she swooped round, coming at the airplane from the front this time.

"Oh dear." Krauss sighed, almost tiredly. "Hold on please." He said sternly, smartly before dipping the ship, the harpy's great claws only _just_ grazing the top of the craft, gouging deep dents in the metal and glass over their heads. "Ach!" Krauss yelled as the plane gave a heart stopping lurch, dropping a good thirty foot causing everyone who wasn't strapped down – namely Abe and Hellboy – to smash their heads into the glass above.

"Holy…" Hellboy groaned, shaking his head to clear his fuzzy vision, looking out to see a second harpy had sunk her claws deeply into one of the engines and was trying her hardest to tear it off. "You still there Krauss?"

"Yes but there's not thing I can-"

"Just get us down – safely!" Hellboy couldn't help yelling as the plane dropped, grabbing hold of the open window for support, leaning out and taking aim at the snarling face. The Harpy that he had originally shot dropped down suddenly, latching onto his arm and trying to pull him upwards, only his stone hand clamped on the edge of the window saved him from being pulled out completely. Unable to hear because of the wind roaring round him and half blind from the dazzling white of the clouds they were starting to drop through, Hellboy shot randomly, silently thankful that he'd had the sense to keep his grip. The Harpy screeched, taking another shot, shaking his arm roughly as she let him go, all but dropping him back into the plane. Hellboys damaged, fleshy arm clamped to his abdomen as pain threatened to take him over, the skin hung from him in chunks.

"Abe!" He called hoarsely over the noise.

"He's out! He hit his head pretty hard!" Meg yelled back, using one hand to pin her flyway hair back from her face as she lurched unsteadily across the craft, buffeted by the wind and the rocking of the plane. She dropped to her knees beside him, letting go of her hair in order to look at the damage of his arm. "Oh God." She breathed under the racket, looking up into his stony expression with frightened eyes. She grabbed onto him out of instinct as the plane started to turn nose downwards with a lurch that threatened to make all of them throw up.

"Krauss!" Hellboy roared over the noise, the sight of an expanse of apparently soft golden sand rapidly heading towards them giving him a bit of extra strength.

"I'm trying my best!" The scientist yelled back, his discorporate voice strained before a rattle of very nearly panicked German filled the space. "Heeeave!" At the last second the plane pulled up, it's nose kissing the tip of one of the sand dunes before burying itself in another one in an explosion of sun-warmed sand. The Harpies circled far over head, screeching their triumph to the otherwise empty skies as they looked down at the deathly still wreck below them.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Sand dunes and secrets.

A singular vulture – watched by six or seven other, wiser birds - edged it's way towards the plane wreck like a nervous drugs dealer, half sidling and half creeping. In a moment of pure bravery it flapped its deceptively huge wings and landed with surprising lightness on the tail of the plane – the only thing really visible from beneath the sand. It pecked at the shiny metal before taking off in a flurry of startled feathers and panicked cries as a white cloud barreled into him.

"Dummkopf!" The cloud itself seemed to yell, settling in a roiling pool in the natural dip created by the dunes before a…man seemed to rise out of the swirling mist, as insubstantial as a cloud but still in the shape of a man, streaming bits of mist into nothingness. "Hmm-" The man flinched as a stone hand burst through the seemingly solid wall of sand, groping until it caught hold of the metal of the tail and clamped onto it. Like some ancient sea-monster (or…perhaps…the demon he was) Hellboy rose from the sand, golden grains spilling from him like water. Teeth gritted, he hauled himself out, his right hand coming last – which was understandable really considering he was dragging Abes weight along with it. The amphibian coughed and spluttered as he emerged into the daylight, his water goggles and breathing apparatus miraculously in tact. Hellboy half leaned over the tail of the plane to cough and spit out the sand he'd ingested. "Not one of my gossamer landings but…where's Miss Meg?" Krauss asked, dread lacing his usually authoritarian tones.

"Couldn't find her." Hellboy wheezed.

"You mean she's still in there?" Abe croaked from where he was taking refuge from the harsh glare of the sun by sitting in the shadow of the plane. Hellboy grunted a reply, something in his spine audibly popping as he straightened out.

"She was really quite young." Krauss said quietly as the three of them turned to look at the plane.

"Who was?" A familiar brogue made the trio look up. "Liz?" Meg stumbled as she made her way down the ever shifting edge of the dune, her backpack slung over one shoulder and Krauss' suit tucked under her arm. "Don't worry about it, Hellboy, we'll get her back." Despite being pink from the heat already, Meg managed to blush a little, not looking directly at Krauss as she handed his suit back.

"How…how did you-"

"Got sucked out of the plane. Just before we landed. Quite lucky really." She replied shortly as she slipped her hand into the other strap on her pack, looking up at Hellboy. "So what now?" To his surprise, the other two turned to face him as well – Krauss slowly seeping back into his undamaged suit – their expressions as questioning as possible.

"Now we ask the book for directions." He shot back to her – inwardly applauding himself for his quick thinking – Meg stared at him blankly before swinging round the backpack she'd just put on, flipping it open before rooting around for the book.

"Hold this would you?" She shoved a bag at him. "And this-" Another, smaller bad. "And these." Water canisters. Three. Before she produced the book and took everything off him. "Abe?"

"Hmm?" The amphibian was busy staring at the water canisters produced. Meg knelt beside him and gave him one of their drinks.

"She likes you, so could you…?" She held the book open across her knees. Abe spread a hand out over the pages, his long, delicate fingertips curling over the top edge of the pages, his free had fussing with the water canister. A serious little tug pulled at the corner of his mouth as he concentrated, his gaze snapping down towards the swirls and symbols, letters and runes that ran apparently haphazardly across the page.

"So? What does she say?" Hellboy asked impatiently, knocking sand out of the Samaritan with an irritated frown.

"It doesn't make any sense. Well, _part_ of it doesn't…" Abe trailed off, concentrating on the riddle he was being told.

"Abe, we're still here." Red said dryly.

"Hm? Oh. We're to go East, apparently and find…well, it's either a Library, a storage space, a cave or a home. I can't make it out, she's too-"

"Excited." Meg cut in worriedly, gently taking the book from him and holding it to her chest. "At least we know which way to go, right? Does anyone have a compass?"

"You mean you didn't pack one?" Abe said, almost nastily, the heat getting the better of him. Meg stuck her tongue out at him childishly.  
"Don't need one. We're not going to travel by day, it's too hot and Abe won't survive long. We'll travel in the night if we've got warm enough clothing, plus we'll see Polaris which we can navigate by." Hellboy said firmly, noticing Abes gratified nod. "In the meantime I suggest we have something to eat, patch up and get some rest."

"I bought bandages." Meg said quietly, looking at the damage that the harpy had inflicted on Hellboys arm. "But I don't know how to-"

"Let me." Abe cut in gently, feeling a little guilty for snapping earlier. "Red?" Hellboy sat down.

"Right then." Meg clapped her hands together. "Johann, do you know how to make a fire? Maybe I could cook something nice for us."

"Does a tooth fairy poop in the house?" Meg stared at Krauss blankly. "I'll go and find something to burn."

* * *

"Wish they'd slow down." Hellboy murmured, thinking more of Abe than himself. The amphibian was having a little difficulty in maneuvering a body that was designed for water over such a dry and ever shifting land, even in the freezing temperatures that battered the desert at night. His natural grace and balance was really being put to the test and Hellboy could see it was starting to take it's toll on his friend.

"They make quite a pair." Abe said, voice tired but almost fond, gesturing to where Meg and Krauss were leading the way, heads down and chatting amiably. Every time Meg slipped in the sand, Krauss would reach out to steady her, or vice versa.

"Yeah…you keep your stride, I'm gonna go split the lovebirds." Red growled, very nearly under his breath, lengthening his stride in order to catch up to the other two. "Krauss, go help Abe out would you? Sand ain't his thing." Hellboy asked, to his surprise the German went without a fuss, simply stopping in his tracks in order to let Abe catch up. Meg cleared her throat, a little awkwardly, dragons smoke curling from her mouth in the cold night air. "So. We gonna talk about the crash?"

"Don't see why we should." She replied sharply.

"I _do_." Hellboy lowered his voice, glancing over his shoulder to see that Abe and Krauss were far away enough for his liking. "What the hell _was_ that? You clung to me like a damn limpet and then-"

"Yes I know, _I know_ alright." Meg snapped, stumbling in the sand and tightening her grip on the book she held across her chest. "I didn't think…I should have got everyone out and I didn't…I've never…and I…I just-"

"It's ok." Meg looked up, surprised almost out of herself at the nearly kind tone in his voice. The red man shrugged, trying not to seem awkward about it. "You weren't ready for it. Now you are. Simple as that." They walked on in silence for a while, the only sound in the whole place was the whispering of the sand beneath their boots.

"How long have you known? Or was it just since the crash?" Meg burst at last.

"Since we met you." Hellboy looked up, glancing over his shoulder again as he called out. "This is as good a place as any to stop. We'll camp here for the day and move out again at night." Krauss and Abe both waved, signaling that they'd understood. "Meg?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't let me down again."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Hellboy knew he was dreaming. Knew it when he looked down to see Rex – the golden Labrador puppy – he'd had as a kid. Plus there was the plastic pistol he'd had when he played cowboys and Indians tucked into his B.P.R.D belt…which was so large he'd had to wrap it three times around his waist. He looked up into a mirror. Yep. There was is seven year old self, true to form. Buck teeth, one horn missing, the other tipped in black…a lot more…innocent than he ever remembered being –

"Hellboy? What are you doing lurking about outside?" A familiar voice called out to him and joy, pure and slightly childish, leapt in his heart.

"Pops?" He turned to see the study as it had been, back at the B.P.R.D. All forest green and dark wood, brass and exotic little trinkets scattered amongst shelf upon shelf of beautifully bound books – all of which his clever pop had read and re-read and could quote verbatim and there. Nearly in the center of the room, sat Professor Trevor Broom at his hardwood desk, a pen in one hand, a notebook and a new book open on the desk before him, half turned in his comfortable chair to look at his son. Hellboy ran forward, flinging his arms around his fathers waist as he stood up.

"Hellboy?" Professor Broom chuckled, slightly puzzled as he hugged his son back for a long moment before disentangling himself and dropping down to one knee, looking his son in the face with a slightly worried frown. "What on Earth's the matter?" Hellboy knew it was a dream so he knew it was illogical to wail that his father was dead back in the real world…it didn't seem to matter though as his mouth was already speaking for him.

"I've lost Liz. Some…guy, Hades, we think, took her. We're taking directions from this apparently sapient book and…" Hellboy shrugged, sighed and tried not to give in to how young he felt. "I don't know what to do."

"You've just got to figure out where she is." Professor Broom said with a kind, fatherly smile. "After that it should all be fairly simple. Oh. But do watch out for the dog." His father reached down to pat Rex on the head affectionately, receiving a slobbery lick for his troubles. "That could be more trouble than you bargained for." Hellboy laughed softly, rubbing his stone hand over the back of his neck.

"Hm. Now if that isn't trippy dream talk what is?" He looked up has his Father laughed, a sudden stab of grief catching him off guard. "I miss you, pop." Trevor Broom smiled sadly.

"I know, son. I miss you too." The smile broadened into a grin and he opened his mouth again. "_Where is she, you bastard?_"

"What?

* * *

"Where is she?!" Hellboy awoke slowly to an unfamiliar voice yelling in panic. "Where is she? What did you do with her?"

"I haven't touched her! Not since yesterday when you _asked_ me too!" That was Abe, yelling in reply.

"Where did you last have her?" And that was Krauss.

"Here! She was right here, I went to sleep with the book under my pillow, I woke up just now and she's _gone_." Hellboy opened his eyes, finally recognizing Meg's voice, and sat up in a small shower of sand. The sun was starting to go down and there was the faintest breeze. A small gecko stared at him for a moment, licking it's own eyeball, before lazily deciding that taking on a mountainous red human thing wasn't worth it's time and skittered off. Hellboy looked up, still a little muggy from sleep, in time to see Meg – sun burnt and peeling – shaking out the contents of two backpacks, rooting through everything that fell out uselessly.

"It's alright-" Krauss was attempting to sound soothing.

"Alright? _Alright?_ Without that book we're as good as dead she was giving us directions she was-" Meg started to hyperventilate. Abe turned, spotting that Hellboy was awake, and very nearly rolled his eyes at her behavior. Hellboy covered a laugh by clearing his throat and stretching out, something shiny caught his eye at the top of one of the sand dunes and it wasn't just quartz in the sand.

"There it is." He pointed, shielding his eyes with one hand from the glare of the dieing sun. He was surprised into full wakefulness when Meg dropped a dry kiss on top of his head before racing past, climbing up to the top of the dune with surprising speed for someone who was skidding about the day before.

"Excitable little thing, isn't she?" Krauss murmured as he watched her and packed up the backpacks again. Abe fanned himself with one of the napkins, watching as Meg reached the top and stooped to pick up the book, hugging the thing to her and obviously telling it off at the same time before freezing.

"Uh, guys." She called out, her voice carrying easily in the stillness.

"Y'know I'm _really_ starting to hate it when she says that." Hellboy muttered to himself.

"You'd better come and see this." Passing the last of his water to Abe – who looked to be suffering in the rapidly cooling heat already – Hellboy started the climb upwards, leaving his pack behind.

"Hmm." He grunted in mild surprise when he reached her side. Looking down over the edge of the sloping shadowy dune, the land spread out into comparatively flat for about two miles, all around the edge dunes rose, creating a sort of bowl within which lay…planks. Planks of wood about a foot and a half wide and eight foot long, set next to each other with about three feet between them. They lay in regimented rows across the desert floor. "Abe?" Hellboy asked as he and Krauss reached the summit. The amphibian's jaw dropped as he stared out, shaking his head slightly and shrugging.

"Hey!" Meg yelped as she dropped the book, chasing after it as it slid down the side of the dune and bumped into the edge of one of the planks. The others followed on behind. "What are you- oh!" The book snapped open, it's pages bleeding pure black with a slow, high pitched whine, building to a crescendo as the ink ran _off_ the page and onto the sand. Krauss reached out and pulled Meg back as the ink spread further before pooling into itself, slowly becoming smaller and smaller until it was a black dot no bigger than the grain of sands around it before disappearing entirely.

"Well that was-" Hellboy was interrupted as the sand where the dot had been exploded upwards, showering all of them in blinding sand. Once he'd scrubbed the stinging, salty grains from his eyes Hellboy looked up to see what the hell had happened.

"Oh _man_ I can't tell you how _good_ it is to get out of there." A woman, with skin the colour of the night – literally, stars moved beneath her skin in tiny flashes of ever moving light – stood before them, naked as the day she was born. "Well don't everyone rush to say hello at once." She said dryly, flipping back hair the shade of the moon over her shoulder.

"Uh. Hello." Abe managed. The woman grinned, walking over to him in a manner that would do any burlesque dancer proud before planting a soft kiss to the corner of his mouth.

"Hello Abraham." She said richly, pressing against him. "Thank you for being so kind to me."

"Y-you're most welcome." He said, slightly awkwardly with his voice at a higher pitch than usual. "And _you_ are?"

"Oh I'm the book. Or rather, the personality that made the book sapient, some stupid mage trapped me inside a couple of million years ago. The bastard. Anyway, enough of that depressing lark, my name is Astra – first of the sex demons – wonderful to meet you." She offered a hand to shake, as if a kiss of that magnitude hadn't been enough.

"Charmed." Abe's voice had taken on a distinctly wobbly note. Astra smiled at him, almost lovingly before turning away.

"Johann." She purred, leaning up to kiss the glass bowl that made his head before turning away. "Megan. My little darling." She smiled broadly and hugged the much younger girl to her. "Thank you for taking care of me so well for so long. You _must_ say thank you to your mother for me." She patted Megs hand kindly. "Oh and that thing you asked me about?" Meg stared to blush underneath the sun burn. "That's a sure fire winner." Astra winked before turning to Hellboy, any attempt at seduction, kindness or amusement falling away. "Oh it's you." She said flatly.

"Yep." The two stared at each other for a moment, one red, one dark.

"Good luck finding your Lady." Astra said eventually. "Now, all you need to do, Megan my dear, is raise the Library for me and I can go home." She smiled at her once protector.

"Library? What Library?"

"_That_ library." Astra made an expansive gesture to the planks of wood. "Call it up, sweetheart, you know how…in your own time." The demon leaned against Abe, her hands winding around his arm despite how awkward he looked.

"What is she talking about?" Krauss asked. Meg cleared her throat, looking awkward and embarrassed and stepped forward slightly, raising both hands.

"Um. You might want to stand back a bit, I don't know what's going to happen." She mumbled. She made a good picture, a silhouetted figure set against a blazing orange and pink skyline. She raised both hands, as a conductor might with an orchestra and something, somewhere, seemed to hold its breath. Her hands came crashing down, overturned and slowly began to lift back up. The ground trembled beneath their feet, slowly at first before building up into great wracking judders as if the land was trying to give birth. With glacial speed the planks rose, revealing that they were, in fact, the top of bookshelves. The shelves were lined, front to back, with hundreds, thousands, millions of books, all of them older than any of them had ever seen. Meg swayed, her hands dropping, and started to fall to one side, only to be caught by Krauss before she hit the floor.

"It's the lost library of Tsu Shai." Astra said, a little smugly, as if _she_ had been the one to raise it. "It holds all the knowledge that anyone could ever want. There's so much power, so much magic and pain and joy in those pages that it had to be hidden away from the world."

"The library of who what now?" Hellboy asked. Abe sighed in disgust.

"Tsu Shai? First century historian? Thought to be the first ever to document human history?" He tried to explain, though he was swiftly being distracted by all the books and scrolls, tomes and skins laid out before him. It was every nerds dream.

"Oh well done." Astra kissed his cheek before letting him go, stooping to pick up the book.

"I'm supposed to take that back to my-"

"Father, yes." Astra smiled at Meg. "I know. You'll only have a few seconds to get it from the shelf so be quick." The demon glanced over her shoulder at Hellboy. "You'll have to think fast when the time comes and make a choice between what you want and what must be. Make it the right choice, Anung." She said quietly before striding away, a naked star lady in a darkening desert surrounded by…bookshelves. She stopped, only a handful of feet away, and smiled brilliantly at them as she replaced the ancient book to its rightful place. With a soft sigh she…burst. The stars that had once been caged beneath her skin flew heavenward with only the slightest echo of a woman's laughter behind them. Meg started running towards the bookshelf that held the book at about the same time the ground began shaking again. The sand shifted beneath everyone's feet as the shelves began sinking once more.

"Meg!" Krauss yelled out, starting forward only to have Hellboys heavy hand land on his shoulder. Meg glanced back at him once before snatching the book from it's shelf and curling in on herself, the book held against her. Sand exploded everywhere, sending up dark choking clouds into the dusky sky and closing over the library, Meg and her book all at the same time.

"I hate sand." Hellboy growled to himself as he pulled himself upright, dusting off the stuff that clung and seemed to get everywhere.

"Meg?" Krauss had been first to his feet – unthinkingly treading on one of Abes hands – as he looked round. "Meg!" A hand burst through the sand and waved around until Hellboy reached down and pulled. Meg was still curled around the book, with the exception of one arm, until she began coughing. "You _idiot_!" Krauss yelled at her as she was dropped. "What _were_ you thinking? You could have died! You could have been hurt –are you hurt?" He asked, helping her up.

"I'm fine."

"What did you do that for?" He scolded as she spat out a mouthful of grit.

"Considering this is the only direction we have on how to get to the river Styx I thought it would be useful." Meg snapped back. "Any water left?" Abe handed over his canister and took the book from her.

"Hmm…it appears the words have solidified since Astra's departure." He flipped through a couple of pages. "Do you think it would be 'E' for entrance or 'S' for Styx?" He asked the world in general.

"Try 'S' first." Hellboy suggested, leaning to look over his friends shoulder only to find the letters in the book were still illegible to him.

"How did you do that, Meg?" Krauss was asking quietly. She pulled her arm away from his grip rather fiercely, shoving her hair out of her face and glaring at the floor.

"I'm a witch, alright? Hocus pocus, black cat, abra-bloody-kadabra. There, you know the truth." She looked up at him, the anger in her expression barely covering the vulnerability that lay behind it. "We don't burn easy if that's what you're wondering." Her voice quavered. Krauss chuckled and laid a hand on her arm.

"I've never burned a friend before and I don't intend to start now."

"Why is it always in verse?" Hellboy asked incredulously after Abe had recited the passage from the book.

"What?" Meg made her way over, looking over Abes other shoulder.

"I'm not reading the whole poem again just because you missed it." He replied. "Basically we need to go _that_ way for another hundred yards or so and speak out an incantation to get the…I think it translates as door-"

"Gateway." Meg corrected absently.

"Gateway to open."

"Am I the only one who thinks that sounds way too simple?" Meg asked. Hellboy smirked, chewing off the end of a cigar.

"Well, hundred yards that way it is." He started off in the direction Abe had pointed in, his smirk slowly giving way to a frown as he murmured to himself. "I'm coming for you, kid."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

More Sand

"Hmm. What a surprise." Abe murmured, now feeling distinctly crotchety due to a lack of water, despite the coolness of the night air. "More sand." He sat down, head in his hands and sighed heavily, glancing up in surprise when cool water splashed over his head.

"That's the last we've got…I hope the Styx is drinkable." Krauss said smartly as he stoppered the canister.

"It should be here." Meg made an expansive gesture, looking down at the book she now carried.

"Incantation. There was something about an incantation." Hellboy gestured to the book.

"Yes but it doesn't say what it is." She flipped back and forth through the pages, looking for some clue.

"You're the magical one, do some…" Hellboy waggled his fingers vaguely, earning himself a withering glance. Meg stuck her nose in the air and raised a hand, murmuring a handful of words in Elvish…nothing happened. She tried again and again in different languages but still the ground remained as unresponsive as ever. Getting more and more frustrated Meg ended up throwing the book down and sitting sulkily in the sand. Krauss stared at her a moment before placing one hand on her shoulder and raising the other.

"σήσαμον" He said quietly. The ground heaved once more, much as it had for the unveiling of the library but instead of revealing shelves, the great maw of a cave opened up.

"Is this where Disney got it's inspiration for Aladdin's cave from?" Hellboy yelled over the noise, watching the pitch blackness open right in front of his eyes.

"What did you _say_?" Meg called, holding onto Johann's gloved hand for support.

"Open sesame! It was worth a try!" He yelled back, grunting as he was yanked backwards – dragging Meg with him – by Abe just as the ground opened up beneath where they had been standing. The four of them turned and ran up one of the sand dunes – an arduous task with the sand slipping from beneath their feet. Once at the top they turned, the shakes had subsided a little and in their wake a huge cavern had appared, it's grey rock mouth leading downwards on a gentle slope to pitch blackness.

"Anyone else think that looks like a throat?" Meg asked, still panting for breath.

"You can keep that kind of thing to yourself." Hellboy murmured, unholstering the Samartian and resting it on his shoulder as he started back down the dune.

"We really have to go in there?" Meg grouched, half whining as they slid and slipped down the sand.

"On the bright side there's water in there." Abe said with the most cheer since they'd landed. The innard of the cave seemed a total contrast to the world outside, freezing cold, silent and echoing with a thousand tiny water drops. The dark grey walls were slick and crystals glittered in a way that was almost eerie when Krauss turned on a torch.

"Anybody home?" Hellboy called out, receiving the forlorn little echo of his voice in return. "Guess not." He started down the incline, his boots suddenly very noisy against the perfectly smooth floor.

"These formations are stunning…it's like something out of a Gustave Dore" Abe murmured, running a webbed hand over the walls as they walked along, careful of razor sharp spikes of stone that threatened to cut into the sensitive flesh on his palm and fingertips.

"Mmm. Dante's Cocytus." Meg murmured in agreement, holding a flashlight high so they could see further ahead of them. "This thing looks like it goes on forever."

"Yeah. Abe are you picking anything up?" Hellboy asked over his shoulder, his own flashlight tucked into a clip on his shoulder, leaving his hands free…just in case.

"A river. About…half a mile ahead. There's something else too…ancient. Dangerous and…bored." Abe stopped in his tracks as everyone turned to look at him. "I'm just telling you what I'm sensing."

"Bored?" Hellboy asked before shrugging and carrying on. It was creepily eerie, how the natural light seemed to have died along with the echo's. The silence was oppressive and the darkness around them seemed to grow thicker the further down they went. Krauss nearly tripped over Abe, unconsciously walking a little closer, when Meg bumped into him.

"Wait." Abe held up a hand, tilting his head slightly. "Can anyone else hear that?" The beams of the torches flickered all around the cave as the sound reached everyone's ears.

"Waterfall?" Hellboy suggested.

"Over there, look!" Johann pointed his torch towards the ground a little way ahead. The smooth onyx of the floor gave way to pale silver sand.

"Water, finally." Abe heaved a sigh of relief and started towards the shore line.

"Whoa." Hellboy settled a heavy hand on his friends shoulders. "Look." Together they walked slowly to the edge.

"Urgh." Abe recoiled as a hand, half skeleton and half gray, peeling flesh, trailed along the soft, silver gray sand before sinking back below the surface. "Good grief…" He breathed, mouth open as he stared out across the expanse of dark water and darkness. Within the water thousands…millions of ghost like, half conscious figures floated, they seemed serene except for the misery on their faces, mouths half open, some of them moaning, spine-tingling wails creeping up to explode into the darkness above.

"Well that's just creepy and un-necessary." Meg murmured, shining the torch down on the water.

"Abe?" Hellboy asked. Abe glanced up at him, seeing that Red was looking across the water to a slowly approaching orb of light. Barely breathing in the stillness the group watched as the light slowly became visible as an ancient lamp, hanging from the prow of a rickety looking boat with…what looked like a skeleton punting it across the ghostly souls beneath.

"The Styx." Abe shifted from foot to foot, his attention drawn back to the waters and feeling uncomfortable for the first time in his life around it. "We have to be ferried across it by Charon-"

"The boatman?" Krauss asked.

"We should have bought two copper coins with us to pay him for passage." Abe murmured, Meg nodding.

"Yes but if we paid him we'd never get back, plus we couldn't pay to bring Liz back either." Hellboy watched as the two started to argue watched by Krauss and the ever patient Charon.

"Screw this." Hellboy drew the Samaritan from his belt, took aim and shot the boat man. Charon fell into the river in an undignified swirl of robes and clattering bones. Abe and Krauss ran to the of the boat, leaving Meg on shore with her mouth ajar as she held the book to her chest whilst Hellboy grunted, returning his gun to the holster and jumping aboard. The ancient boat creaked threateningly and he glanced overboard to see Charon clawing futilely at the sides of the ship whilst the ghostly figures in the water did their damn best to drag him down with them. "Are you coming?" He asked, offering Meg a hand.

"You just shot Charon." She said in muted tones as she took his hand and climbed up, leaning over the side to look at where the boat man was being pulled down in to the shadows. "You just..._shot_ him. He's thousands of years old and-"

"Yes, he does that." Krauss said dryly, sitting stiffly on one of the many wooden benches that lined the interior of the ship. Abe sat a little way away, looking down at the dark water and it's swirling hosts with a mix of curiosity, disgust and the tiniest bit of fear. Hellboy took up the pole that the boatman had been using to punt the boat across with and braced himself against boards of wood that looked like they would fall apart at any minute.

"So, anyone got any idea how far we have to go?"

"Um…perhaps I should have mentioned that the river Styx runs around Hell nine times." Megan cleared her throat, having the grace to look embarrassed under the glares that were leveled at her. "Don't look at me that way! Abe, you should have known!"

"I'm sorry if my Greek mythology is a little rusty. Some of us-" The amphibian snapped back, thoroughly spooked by the unbelievable waters that swirled silently in front of them only a few feet away.

"Anything else we should know?" Hellboy asked, interrupting the argument, with a broad gesture to the river and the darkness beyond, one hand still on the pole.

"Considering the Styx does indeed exist…we'll probably come across Phlegethon, the river of fire…maybe the Cocytus which is either a frozen river or a lake, depending on what you read. The journalists of that time are really rather sketchy-"

"You forgot to mention Acheron, Lethe and Eridanus." Megan murmured, interrupting Abe and watching as Krauss stepped a little closer to the dark waters, only to be stopped by Hellboy. "Don't step in the Acheron or the Lethe, no matter what." Meg added, watching Krauss sit back down.

"What about the Eridanus?" Abe asked.

"I'm not sure, it's only recorded as 'beware the starry waters of Eridanus'…what do you think that means?" Megan murmured. Abe shook his head slightly, graceful shoulders moving in a delicate shrug.

"It could be taken both literally or figuratively…or maybe it has something to do with Astra? The Acheron, however, is recorded merely a stretch of water that-"

"Ah no, no." The woman interrupted him. "It's _partially_ recorded as a stretch of water that Charon ferried the dead over-"

"Partially? It's clearly recorded in-"

"Can't you two argue popular mythology later?" Hellboy asked irritably, narrowing his eyes as he walked further on, the dark waters curling against the hull of the ship, seeming to somehow reach for his feet. The figures in the water ignored them, pulled along by an invisible tide, not even seeming to notice when the pole that Hellboy was using passed straight through them. "Isn't there a quicker way than this?" Krauss leaned down, rifling through the contents of his back pack, before he sat up, flare in hand. "Worth a try." The dot of red light shot from the end of the flare gun and high up into the darkness, watched by three sets of eyes and a glass bowl, before it burst, briefly illuminating their surroundings with a brilliant red glow. The glow seemed to stay long after the little dot of light had faded. They were sailing across a spiral of water that seemed to lead to a central hub of land that was at least four or five miles across, the water surrounding it seemed to stretch on forever.

"All those souls…" Hellboy muttered, stopping punting in order to look around. The boat drifted onwards of its own accord, until with a soft thump it nosed against the shore. Hellboy looked down at the pole in his hands before glancing back. The shoreline they had left only moments before looked miles away.

"Ok, that one was definitely a spell." Meg pinched the bridge of her nose.

"No, really?" Hellboy said under his breath as they stepped ashore.

"This isn't right." Abe shook his head. "This isn't right at all, where are the other rivers?" He glanced around, large eyes narrowing slightly and blinking in the blessedly damp, cool air. "That might be…yes, I think that's the Eridanus." Abe gestured to a tiny brook that ran through the silver gray sand, a tinkling little waterfall and a pool about a foot across was its end.

"Oh." Meg breathed as she drifted towards it. "Look at the beauty of it." It wasn't so much water as liquid light, silver fairy dust tripping down over the smooth rock. Meg reached out, the reflection of the light filling her eyes and blanking her face, she was unaware when the silver light started to reach towards her in return. Krauss' gloved hand covered Megs own and for a moment she looked at him with utter hatred, loathing making the line of her mouth ugly before the light in her eyes faded and she frowned in confusion. "Johann?"

"Come along." He let her hand drop and the two hurried to catch up with the others.

"-course we were working from Dante's description of the Underworld, as well as one or two historians who were – apparently incorrect." Abe was explaining, still looking around. Ahead of them was a tall wall, built of black rocks that didn't look out of place, _wouldn't look out of place in a Bram Stoker novel either _Hellboy thought tetchily. In the center of which stood a vast door that turned out to be made of wrought iron, curls of exquisite intricacy only _just_ covering the site within. Beyond the doors lay a totally different scene. There was an impossible blue sky over head, complete with a swirling orb for a sun, the silver sand gave way to silver blue grass and in the center of the door-framed picture was a fountain, white marble built on two layers with shallow steps. On the edge of the fountain, sitting serenly with an amphora on her lap…Hellboys heart leaped as he pushed through the gateway.

"Liz!"


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: - yes it's short, yes I've pick and mixed from Roman and Greek mythology (if Disney can do it so can I damn it.) and yes the bad guy struts his stuff in the next chapter. So there.

Chapter Nine

Memories.

"Wait-"

"What?" Hellboy snapped, dragging Abe forward, through the heavy gates.

"Red, _look_ at her." The merman said quietly, having swiftly regained his balance. Hellboy impatiently shook him off before looking up at Liz. She was sat on the edge of the fountain, filling an amphora from the impossibly blue waters within, dressed in white, bare foot and…there was something…something _different_ about her expression. Almost as if something was missing, something had been…lost. A slow, creepy feeling made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

"Hey Abe?" Hellboy waited until he was sure his comrade was paying attention before asking. "What happens if you step into the waters of Lethe?" Abe made a soft noise, somewhere between grief and understanding.

"You forget _everything_…Red, I'm so sorry." He spoke quietly. Hellboy shook his head, looking up at the blank eyed figure he loved so very dearly. Fear and anger threatened to squeeze the heart and soul from him. The woman who had been called Liz smiled at them, a gentle, loving smile, the kind that Hellboy had only seen before in the afterglow of love, when the world was still silent and shrunk down to just the two of them. It was _his_ smile and she was unthinkingly sharing it with the entire group. It made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

"Liz?" He asked, voice choked off to a near whisper. If it hadn't been them, there, it would have been quiet comical that she turned to look over her shoulder, frowning a little in confusion as she stood up, one hand splayed out against her swollen belly in an unconsciously protective movement and using the edge of the fountain for support before gaining her balance, walking down the shallow steps slowly.

"I'm sorry, were you confusing me with someone else?" She asked. Hellboy nearly sagged with relief, at least her voice was still the same. "I'm afraid Orcus is out at the moment but he should be back in a little while. Can I offer you something to drink?" She made a gesture to the side table, a set of exquisitely detailed gold chairs appearing around a stone table as she did so. "Please, stay for a while." She smiled again, _that_ smile.

"Liz, look, you've-"

"Keep the status quo, Red." Abe interrupted quietly, laying a hand on his arm and watching as Liz waddled over to a sideboard – a glass thing that had literally grown out of the floor - very heavy with child.

"Imagine someone telling you that you're not Hellboy but a construction worker from Brooklyn called Bob whilst you were pregnant." Krauss said quietly, letting off steam in the most literal sense.

"So who does she think she is if she's not Liz?" Hellboy asked, watching his lovers every move. Abe shrugged, shaking his head slightly, the slightest look of puzzlement managing to make it's way onto his amphibian features.

"I've got one." Meg said before looking at Liz. "Persephone?" Liz looked up at the name.

"Yes?"

"Oh." Meg blinked, as if she hadn't been ready for being right. "Um. I was, er, just wondering, uh-" She looked at the others for help and Johann stepped in.

"You must forgive my friend, she's a little embarrassed to ask about your condition." He said smoothly. Meg all but latched onto the arm of his suit, squeezing it gratefully, picking up on the emotions Abe cleared his throat in embarrassment.

"Oh that, I'm due quite soon apparently." Liz slash Persephone gestured to a table and chairs – which had appeared pretty much the same way as the sideboard had - using both hands to cradle the golden amphora she had picked up. "Please, sit." She said graciously. Without looking at the others Hellboy moved to sit, unsurprised when a golden goblet grew out of the table. Everything with colours seemed to glow in the shadowy gloom; Liz was practically phosphorescent. H.B couldn't help but stare. She was dressed in white – something he'd _never_ seen, she didn't even wear white night dresses – a robe-like thing that made him think of the ancient Romans. The waist was pulled in with a golden cord and the fabric shifted with soft whispers over her skin…_didn't I read somewhere that the whole dress is only kept in place by one pin_?

"Wine?" Liz offered, her face serene in a way that no one had ever seen before, the constant burning anger that boiled just beneath the surface seemed to have been eradicated. Hellboy shot her a look and shifted slightly. Impatient _and_ aroused. This was _not_ how it was supposed to go. Rush in, kill the bad guy, grab the babe, go home, that was the usual routine right? They weren't supposed to sit around, talking, taking the equivelent of ancient Greek tea whilst waiting for the bad guy to show up. Damn it.

"Red, if you frown any deeper your eyebrows are going to fall off." Megan said through a smile, her lips not moving once and her voice quiet enough for only him to hear.

"Why did you call her Persephone?" Hellboy asked, still watching Liz...the person that had once been Liz...move around.

"Persephone was Hades' lover. He abducted her, allegedly raped her, made her eat some pomegranet seeds so he could keep her here and-"

"You can stop now."

"Don't drink it." Abe nudged his other side, indicating the goblet. "We don't know what it is."

"I don't know what we're supposed to be doing here. Aren't I supposed to be killing something about now?" He glanced up as Orcus walked into the room. "Or someone." He growled as he stood up, reaching for the gun at his hip.

"Good evening." Orcus' voice was smooth, refined, apparently the tones of a well educated gentleman. His attire was in shades of black and a rich charcoal grey, robes, much like Liz's but somehow more masculine. His face was angular with clever black eyes nestled between black eyebrows and a smile, nearly cruel, nearly amused, framed by a beard that was neatly trimmed to a point.

"He wouldn't look out of place in one of the classics paintings." Abe murmured, more to himself than anyone else but coming under a fiery glare none the less.

"Who the hell is this guy anyway?" Hellboy growled, intending only for his friends to hear.

"Clymenus, Eubuleus, Polydegmon, Orcus, Aita, Hades, Raphael, they all mean the same in the end." Orcus replied, kissing Liz on the cheek. Hellboy stood up so fast that the chair snapped away from the floor. Abe grabbed his arm.

"Status quo, status quo, status quo." He chanted, nearly under his breath. Trying to get Hellboy to sit down when he didn't want too was like trying to move rock.

"You must forgive our guest, Persephone." Orcus said smoothly, meeting the demon's angry glare coolly. "He has quite the temper." Krauss cleared his throat.

"Are you not going to introduce us, Orcus?" Persephone nee Liz said with a nervois little trill of laughter.

"I'm surprised you don't remember, Seph." Orcus sat down, leaving Hellboy standing and almost visibly straining _not_ to haul off and punch the guy. "This is Mars." Orcus gestured to Hellboy who sat down _very_ slowly. "Posiedon." Abe looked up in surprise. "Jupiter." Krauss glanced at his friends. "And Demeter-"

"Her _mother_?" Meg asked, ignoring it when Abe laid a pacifying hand on her arm, looking at Krauss. "I look old enough to be her mother?" She hissed.

"We're so glad you could all make it." Orcus smile politely at them, his eyes resting a little _too_ long on Hellboy's. "Considering Persephone is due to go into labour in about…half an hour. Why don't you take your mother up into the tower to prepare?"

"What?" Meg – who had been having a whispered conversation with Johann – almost yelled.

"You're a girl, get up there." Hellboy ordered in a low voice.

"What does being a woman have anything to do with midwifery?" Meg asked as Liz took her arm and gently led her away, making noises about how sorry she was for not recognising her own mother whilst Meg shot half angry, half pleading looks over her shoulder. As they walked away a tower…appeared. It was almost as if someone had turned the page in a pop-up book and suddenly there was rapunzels tower. Orcus turned, a small smile on his angular face, and locked eyes with Hellboy.

"So." He said in his quiet, cultured voice. "Any questions?"


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

Hellboy raised the samaritan smoothly and fired, straight between Orcus' eyes. The smoke from the barrel cleared and he was only mildly surprised to see Orcus rubbing his forehead with a frown.

"I'll take that as a 'no' then." He smiled, that same calm smile that was really _really_ starting to get on Hellboys nerves before raising a hand, fast as lightening. Hellboy only _just_ managed to duck out of the way of a bolt of something yellow and _hot_, he watched it zip past his face – bent back at a near 90 degree angle – before straightening out in time to see Abe tackling him from the side.

"This is _really_ most annoying!" Orcus snapped, throwing off the amphibian and snapping his fingers. "Cerebus!" The ground rumbled and somehow the shadows behind Orcus got deeper all of a sudden, two red slits appeared in the shadows far over Orcus' head swiftly followed by four more.

"Oh crap." Hellboy looked up, then up again as a ginormous dog with three great heads stepped from the shadows. At least as tall as a two storey building it bared teeth a good foot long down at Hellboy. "Fetch?" He suggested. The Samaritan jerked in his hand as common sense told him to shoot it and his memory reminded him of the dog he'd had as a kid. "Damn." He took a couple of steps back as one massive paw stepped forward, three heads snarling down at him – a chair appeared out of nowhere, knocking the side of one of the dogs heads and causing it to turn, still growling, at Abe who looked suddenly very small and snack sized indeed.

"Oh dear." He murmured as the creature turned towards him. Abe did what anyone with half a brain cell would do – that being turned and ran like hell. The creature lumbered after him, it's barks reverberating off the walls and nearly deafening out the sudden cry that came from the tower.

"Liz!" Hellboy turned to the tower and took off towards it.

"Her water broke five minutes ago!" Meg yelled, leaning out of a window before disappearing again.

"Dernaia Uora!" Orcus yelled, copying much the same gesture that Meg had used to raise the Lost Library, the ground shook and split, a vast crevase opening beneath Hellboys feet forcing him to choose a side, teetering on the edge, waving his arms as he felt the pull of the depth opening infront of him – effectively cutting him off from the ivory tower - before he regained his balance and looked down into the new abyss. Behind him and some way away Abe was heading back to the Styx, Cerebus bounding after him with a depressing amount of speed bulldozing the heavy wrought iron gates with a powerful shoulder. Without a second thought Abe dived gracefully into the Styx and was instantly surrounded by souls who stared at him with hollow eyes and gaping mouths, each one latching onto him hungrily as he tried to swim through them. Cerebus followed, wading in and yelping in surprise as the water deepened beneath him sharply, the souls seeming to cling harder to him than to Abe. The amphibian swam past Cerebus – gracefully dodging a snap of huge teeth – feeling his arms grow heavier and more leaden by the second as he was dragged down by the depressing grey beings. On the edge of the precipice Hellboy teetered, looking down into the darkness as something within moved and uncurled from its feotal position.

"Oooh we're in trouble…why is it always giant squidy things?" Hellboy muttered as the Hydra unfolded itself from the Earth, head brushing the cavern ceiling as one massive claw dug into the edge of the cliff, hauling itself up and out of the precapice.

"It's the Hydra!" Abe yelled with the last of his breath, arms flailing with uncharacteristic futility, "cover your mouth!" Hellboy frowned, looking in the direction of his friends flailing arms before turning back to the hydra, covering his mouth with the thick leather of his sleeve just as the thing opened one of its nine mouths and _breathed_ on him. Green fog curled engulfed him – even above the smell of the leather and his own sweat the toxic breath threatened to swamp his senses. It cleared eventually, leaving him in comparatively alone and looking up at the serpentine thing, without thinking about it Hellboy raised the gun and fired, blowing off three of the nine, ugly, heads in succession.

"You don't read much, do you?" Orcus said from beside him, hands clasped behind his back as if he was taking a leasurely stroll, nodding his head towards the hydra. Hellboy turned to look as the creature rose, pulling itself to its two clawed feet and dragging bloodied stumps across the ground before swinging them up into the air, splattering Hellboy with sticky green blood before nine more heads grew out of the three stumps, struggling and rearing their way to life. "You can't kill it. Just as you can't kill me." Orcus smiled pleasently – Hellboy would have sold his soul to be able to wipe away that smile at that moment. The so called God of the Dead disappeared in a grey haze as Krauss – outside of his suit, a cloud of mist in a vauge human shape, held together by pure will only.

"Actually, he was incorrect. The hydra can be killed -" The German explained calmly, stepping back as one of the heads snapped at Hellboy – who ducked and rolled sideways. "-by cutting off its heads and burning the stumps."

"Nice. Damn. Go help Abe!" Hellboy ordered, having caught sight of his friend slowly sinking out of the corner of his eye.

"Here!" Krauss threw a flare at him before opening the valve on his suit and seeping out. Hellboy grinned, cracking the flare and drawing the Samaritan as he ran towards the hydra. It was getting hard to breathe in the Styx, it _was_ water but it was…souls, spirits passing through his gills and sucking out his life even as he drew it in. Abe made a last ditch attempt for the silver-gray shore, long muscular arms and graceful webbed fingers pulling his suddenly incredibly heavy weight. He was surprised almost out of himself when his fingertips scraped against wet sand and lifted his head to see the shore, right there in front of him. Hope gave him the strength to haul himself onto almost dry land, sluicing off ghostly fingers and faces that would haunt his dreams for a few years to come before laying back in the sand, catching his breath and closing his eyes briefly, totally ignoring the sound of combat behind him as he willed his strength back into his limbs. Something wet and distressingly sticky splashed onto his chest, causing him to open his eyes and look up into a matching trio of angry teeth.

"Hm." He murmured to himself, barely noticing the waters of the Styx and the souls that were still caught up in the ferocious animals matted fur. Flipping his legs over his head in a backwards roll, Abe _just_ missed being the dogs supper as three heads tried to strike one spot at the same time. He ended underneath Cerebus's huge body, trying not to breath in the stench of wet dog and crouched almost to the ground, skittering from side to side in order to stay out of reach and uncrushed by the massive wieght.

"Right behind you, Agent Sapien." Krauss said, out of habit more than anything else, as he approached. The white mist floated up towards the three headed dogs face, easily avoiding the teeth that snapped at him and sank into one of the creatures skulls. Abe flattened himself down as much as possible as depressingly blunt teeth snapped inches away from his face, flailing him with stringy, stinking mucus and bad breath…Abe couldn't work out if he prefered the Styx to giant dog slobber or not. Cerebus whined, snapping and barking at itself as it reared back, heads shaking like it was trying to dislodge a fly from one of its six ears. Abe knew when Krauss had a hold on the thing because the colours of its eyes went from dark chocolatey brown to pale blue.

"Take your time." He murmured, standing up and shaking off the concoction of wet silver sand and clinging water off his limbs. He looked up to find he was talking to thin air – where as Cerebus on his own had moved with menacing grace with Krauss in charge of his cortex Cerebus had bounded across the place like a puppy, all ears and tongue and wagging tail.

"She's pretty far along if you want to speed things up!" Meg's desperate voice came from the tower window. "I can see a head!"

"I'm coming for you, Liz!" Hellboy yelled over the blast of his gun as he took off another of the Hydra's heads, thrusting the hand that held the flare deep into the hot, wet, ragged stump that was left over, ignoring the slurping cling of dying flesh as it seared shut around the heat before ducking the long almost swan like-neck of another. Teeth sank into his calf, causing him to jerk his hand back and nearly loose the flare in putrid flesh. He shot at the head that was currently trying its best to rip him apart, severing it but not removing it from his leg before searing the flesh of that stump. He reared back, his free hand flailing, expecting another attack from a head only to find himself surrounded by a sphaggetti of smoking flesh and scales. "Anyone else?" He yelled, mild hysteria and triumph colouring his voice. He levelled the gun at Cerebus as the three headed dog trotted over, tongues lolling out of panting mouths.

"Well I _was_ going to offer a hand but you seem to have everything under control." Three jaws moved awkwardly around the Germans accent and Krauss sat his canine self down, turning to look over his shoulder with one head as Abe walked over. The white mist that was the German floated out, leaving Cerebus serene and…happy. Hellboy shot the dog a look of distrust before proffering the leg that the Hydra's head was _still_ latched onto.

"Abe, could you…?"

"Oh certainly." Abe dropped to his knees, his tone waspish, "never mind that I nearly drowned for the first time in my life." He muttered to himself, using the small hunting dagger he kept strapped to his calf to prise open the Hydra's locked jaws, releasing a fresh torrent of red blood from Hellboys leg. Hellboy winced briefly, his body turned towards the tower as Liz's yells and screams trailed off, leaving a ringing silence broken only by the sigh of the Styx.

"Liz?" He whispered, his voice choked off by fear. Had something gone wrong? Had Orcus – who'd disappeared some time during the fight – killed her? "Liz!" He bellowed, taking off towards the tower, ignoring the pain and blood flowing down his leg and leaving Abe to juggle the severed head for a minute. His hand was on the door handle when it swung open, revealing Meg, wide eyed, slightly singed and very bloodied. Hellboys heart nearly stopped at the sight of the blood that drenched her hands up to her wrists as she reached out to him.

"Some of it's mine." She said quietly, her expression caught between worry, amusement and fear. "I got a bit, uh, singed."

"Is Liz-"

"She's fine. I think You don't want to go up there just yet. Trust me." Meg said, removing her blood stained hand from his chest. She looked up as he grabbed her shoulders, _barely_ restraining himself from shaking her. "Everythings fine. Sort of. Well…I don't know. The babies are here and both them and their ma seem to be fine but -"

"Where's Orcus?"

"Up there, don't worry, he can't get to the babies, Persephone- I mean, Liz has them and she's all…flamey-"

"So we've killed the evil creatures, all that's left now is to kill Orcus and reverse Liz's memory." Krauss said, seeping back into his suit slowly, filling it enough to be able to walk over to them.

"That's great. Except we've got a brand new, exhausted Mother – on _fire_ by the way, did I mention that? Should I use a fire extinguisher or will she sort herself? - who still thinks she's the Goddess of Life and Death up there, she's confused, very tired and very, very cranky and the only comfort she has is some weird ass wizard who thinks he's the God of the Dead." Meg snapped, pushing her sweaty fringe off her face, baring her singed sleeves briefly. "Any ideas at this point to keep her from being distressed are good ones."

"Here." Abe, looking exhausted as he walked over, handed over one of the golden goblets that had miraculously survived the fight.

"What-"

"Trust us." Johann said quietly. Meg shot him a look that the others couldn't interpret, before giving Hellboy a questioning glance as she took the goblet before turning and starting up the winding stairwell once more. Hellboy managed to last a full five seconds before he took off after her, taking the stairs three at a time in order to catch up, not bothering to use the golden handrail. The door at the top was slightly ajar and Hellboy barged straight in, pausing on the threshold to see Liz amidst a bevvy of bloodied sheets, nose wrinkled as she drank deeply from the goblet, two tiny bundles on the sheets before her. Orcus stood at the foot of the bed, backing away from the bloodied and torn demon as he entered the room. Hellboy was unaware of him and of Meg watching him with wide eyes as he moved over to the bed, standing over his lover…or at least, the woman who_ had_ been his lover..

"Liz?" He breathed, hope and fear squeezing at his heart. She pulled a face, handing the goblet back to Meg before turning to him, her expression blank before her eyes slid to Orcus' and she smiled. _That_ smile…Hellboy felt his heart sink to the floor, a well of despair opening up as he fell heavily to his knees, watching as she rose from the bed, moving gracefully through her pain, her arms open as she reached towards the evil mage. "Liz…no…" Hellboy heard himself whisper, his vision blurry for a reason that he couldn't work out until he swiped a hand over his eyes, wiping away sweat and tears. "…please…"


	11. The End

The End

Orcus smiled smugly, eyes shining malevolently and opened his arms to her, wrapping her up in a lovers embrace, her head tucked beneath his chin.

"Orcus?" Persephone nee Liz Sherman whispered, drawing her head back, the smile falling away as she looked up at him. Orcus smiled down at her, not noticing when she flinched slightly as he brushed her hair from her face.

"Yes, Persephone?" His own smile fell away as she looked up at him, her expression hard and her eyes almost, _almost_ cruel. The doorway to the bedroom started to open and Hellboy caught a flash of skin designed purely for water and the edge of a containment suit before -

"Burn." She whispered. It was all the warning Hellboy had – and it took half a second to process and fling himself upwards, protecting Meg with his bulk – before Elizabeth Sherman exploded, holding her kidnapper in her arms, the door slammed shut against the nova blast. Orcus' scream cut off in the middle and Hellboy dared to open his eyes the slightest crack, glancing over his shoulder to stare through the white light as skin gave way to flesh and flesh gave way to skeleton and finally skeleton gave way to a tiny mote of light, brighter even than Liz's fire. Liz reached out, her expression full of hatred and rage, and closed her fist around the mote of light, extinguishing it even as her own fire receeded. She staggered a little and Hellboy turned, moving quickly to catch her before she fell. "Red?" She murmured weakly, looking up at him before he lowered his head, catching her mouth in a gentle, loving kiss, pouring all the worry and pain he had felt into it and receiving a large portion in return. "The babies-"

"They're fine. Just fine." Meg said in shocked tones, leaning over the bed to check the two tiny bundles, she looked up as the door opened. "Johann." She staggered towards him, shock written all over her face.

"Come and meet them." Liz smiled, _that_ smile…just for him. Hellboy felt a burst of relief mixed in with love and just the slightest bit of nerves as she took his hand, walking stiffly towards the bed and lowering herself gingerly onto it, wincing as she did so. "_Our_ babies." She reiterated, looking at him as she lifted one of the children. Hellboy reached down for the other, suddenly feeling massive and clumsy by comparrison.

"She won't explode y'know." Meg said from the other side of the bed, seemingly calm in Krauss' arms.

"She?" Hellboy asked, looking down at the baby. Two brilliant yellow eyes stared up at him from the blanket, framed by dark brown lashes and pale – _human,_ Hellboy noted with some relief – skin, the smattering of red freckles were cute rather than scary and she had a mop of scarlett red hair to match. She looked up at her Father solomnly, a snot bubble eminating from one nostril, before seriously, deliberately, wrapping a tiny tail around his thumb. "Oh man, look how beautiful she is…she gets it from you." He grinned up at Liz with fatherly pride, "Abe, c'mere, look at her."

"They both do." Liz said, handing him the other baby gently. The other little girl's skin was the same as her fathers, scarlet red, though her eyes were as dark as her Mothers. She focused on him instantly and grinned, toothless but heartfelt, at his stunned expression. "They couldn't get that from you, you big ape." Liz teased, her voice as tender as Hellboy had ever heard and low enough to be meant just for him…_just for me_, he thought smugly, captivated by his beautiful daughters and beautiful-er wife.

"I'm going to have to buy a very large stick." He told the girls softly, rocking them gently. "Because there's going to be a lot of guys after you when you grow up…maybe you could help daddy rig up a booby trap system around the house?"

"Um. I hate to break the moment but I really do think we should depart." Abe said, gesturing out of the window at around the same time as a huge chunk of the ceiling splashed into the Styx.

"Hmm." Hellboy grunted, carefully handing his children back to his lover before scooping them all into his arms, lifting them easily and carrying them down the stairs. Cerebus was nowhere to be seen and there was a definate gold sheen to the silver sand beneath their feet.

"I don't understand, what did Liz drink to get her memory back?" Meg asked, half tripping over a piece of fallen rock.

"The Lethe." Abe, walking quickly beside them, gestured to the white fountain as they passed.

"But the Lethe makes you-"

"Forget, yes. But Dr Krauss can inhabit anything, organic or inorganic-"

"I reversed the flow." Johann cut in, "so instead of taking _away_ memory it-"

"Put it back!" Meg beamed at him brilliantly and Abe had to look away at the wash of emotions from the two of them. "You two are genius'!"

"Well, one tries." Abe said, just a little bashfully. Ahead of them Hellboy, Liz and the kids had already reached the boat, seeming to be in a safe, calm little world of their own as the Underworld crumbled around them.

"Y'know what I could go for right now?" Hellboy asked, carrying his lover and children onto the boat, sitting with them in his lap and letting Krauss take the oar. Liz smiled, one arm around his neck and the other holding onto the twins, her hand lightly stroking his cheek.

"Lemme guess, you want a-"

* * *

"Beer, beer, beer, beer." Hellboy chanted softly to himself as he slipped out of bed, stopping to kiss Liz on her cheek. She grumbled sleepily, eyes screwing tighter shut as she pulled the sheets up to cover her nose. "Be right back babe."

"Don't call me babe." She growled through the sheets with her eyes still shut. Hellboy cleared his throat, unable to bite back a grin and slipped from the room, carefully shutting the door behind himself. He'd never realised how good a place 'home' could be before. It had got better since he'd left, he was sure of it. He padded down the corridor quickly, ending up in the kitchen and flipping the light on as he rescued a beer from the fridge. On the wall the phone started ringing.

"Yeah-'lo?" Hellboy clamped the phone to his ear with his shoulder, using his free hands to open a can of beer.

"Hellboy?" He nearly dropped the phone in surprise at the sound of the voice that echoed down the line.

"Manning? It's nearly two a.m, what do you want?"

"Yeah nice to hear from you too." The Agents voice replied dryly. "Listen, there's a couple of openings back at the B.P.R.D if you, Abe and Liz want too-"

"Manning-"

"Not that _I_ want you too, of course, but some of the, uh, head guys at-"

"Manning! Damn it, can I get a word in edgeways? We're not interested. We're starting our own thing. Besides the pay would have to be really, _really_ good to-"

"They're offering you a million and a half." There was a short silence whilst Hellboy picked up an apparently innocuous looking rock from inside a small dish of brother and sister rocks, threw and caught it, feeling the solid weight of it in his palm.

"Not enough. See you 'round, Manning." He put the phone back on the ringer and turned away, putting the rock (an uncut diamond the size of a ping pong ball in fact, 'rescued' from the Underworld on their way out, the strange grey of the walls at the entrance had in fact turned out to be pure diamond) in with the others of its kind, spraying beer across the room in surprise when he saw Abe sitting at the kitchen table. The amphibian didn't even look up. "Abe? What are you doing in here?" Hellboy blurted without meaning too. Abe glanced up from the tome that was spread out in front of him very briefly.

"The Study is currently occupied. Meg is handling a delicate subject." He said distantly as H.B retrieved the desired beer from the fridge.

"Meg? What's she doing awake? Isn't she going home tomorrow? What subject?" Red rolled his eyes as he was waved away impatiently, _right, right, never interrupt the reading of a new book_. He sighed, cracking open the can, and made his way out of the kitchen and into the corridor. Naturally, he told himself, he was drawn towards the library because of the voices…of course, the voices. The fact that he was walking on the outer edge of his heavy leather boots to silence his footfalls and the fact that he had evened out and deepened his breathing to a level that even he couldn't hear was completely besides the point. Totally. And that he _accidentally_ fell against the wall – gently, so as not to make a noise – and nudged the door to the study slightly open with his tail was pure, well, accident, right?

"-ere, you left a note, on my workbench?"

"Yes. I did." Krauss and Meg. Hellboy let his head rest against the wall for a better look inside. Meg was standing with her back to Abes tank, silhouetting herself in blue and silver, whilst Krauss, and his fishbowl head, was stood a little bit in front of her, one arm resting on the ornate bookstands. "I wanted to see you. I…with everything that's happened I didn't get a chance too…and with all of the…" Meg trailed off, heaving a sigh at her feet.

"Meg-"

"I was just wondering if…well of course you wouldn't, you're a professor at that University and you probably wouldn't have time anyway and- "

"_Megan_." Johann barked, half laughing, taking one of her hands in both of his own. It was an odd feeling for Megan, a slight chill to the soft leather of his gloves, as well as the cold bite of metal gears. "Can I get a word in edgeways now?" Johann watched as she laughed slightly, lowering her head again before he used a finger to gently lift her chin again, his voice soft and kind in a way that neither Meg nor H.B had ever heard. "Between the two of us, I'm sure we can _make_ time…for each other." Smiling slightly Hellboy turned away, glad that someone he'd come to consider – almost – a friend had found someone who could help him unbend.

"With any luck she'll pull that stick out of his ass." He grinned to himself. "He might even enjoy it." He murmured as he pushed into their bedroom.

"Red?" Liz's sleepy voice called from the tangle of sheets on the bed, one of the babies murmured in his sleep, unconsciously reaching out for his Father before settling down again.

"It's ok, babe." H.B murmured as he sat on the edge of the bed, caught between watching the woman of his dreams and his babies. He realized, with a burst of pride and love, that he was sitting there with a huge grin on his face. This was what it was all about, _this_ was what the hoo-ha was all about. "Everything's perfect."

_Something stirred in the shadows, teeth glittering and wet. Something in the shadows grinned at the words it heard._

"_For now."_

Fini

* * *

A/N: - This fic was short and slightly dirty, just like me. The quote that started it all –

If I cannot deflect the will of Heaven, I shall move Hell - Virgil


End file.
